The Arrival of Sailor Charon
by Angelic Traveller
Summary: The second story in the Sailor Moon P saga. 15 year old Alexia Risolto has just moved to Tokyo...little does she know that things are about to change dramatically for her...
1. The Tragic Tale of Princess Charon

The Arrival of Sailor Charon

A.N.: Hi there, welcome to the second story in the _Sailor Moon P_ saga, written by myself, Angelic Moonlight! I'm afraid this one is possibly the least exciting of the stories, but hey, I had to introduce Sailor Charon somehow! Don't forget to review now!

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon', however I do own Alexia Risolto, her family and Estrella (not to mention a few others). Sailor Universe/Merula and Fargo belong to The Mysterious Traveller

The Arrival of Sailor Charon.

1 – The Tragic Tale of Princess Charon.

It was going to be the beginning of a wonderful adventure.

The girl closed her pale blue eyes for a moment and smiled to herself. Her elbow rested on the removal van door as they drove along, and she balanced her chin onto her hand.

"Are you excited, Alexia?" a male voice enquired from next to her. Jumping slightly her eyes flicked open as she turned her head.

"Oh, dad, of course I am." she grinned, flicking a strand of her long hair out of her face. "I wish I'd tied my hair back or something, it's getting on my nerves." her father smiled to himself and shook his head.

"You're never satisfied, are you? I've told you a thousand times you ought to get it cut short."

"What, and give mom a heart attack? She'd kill me if I cut it! Anyway I like it this length." Alexia ran her fingers through her dark green, waist-length hair and sighed. "And I _am_ satisfied, absolutely." she sat back and closed her eyes again. She'd counted down the days, months to today - the day she moved from Kyoto, her home since she'd been born just fifteen years and two days ago, to Tokyo.

"Well, we're almost there." her father announced. Alexia's eyes unclosed once more as they turned into a street and pulled up outside a house. "Welcome to our new home."

"It looks pretty." Alexia said softly. She had no idea what she'd been expecting of her new home, but she was pleasantly surprised with what she saw.

"You'll love it honey, now come on, let's go in and start unpacking this lot." he indicated the back of the truck, and the many boxes there.

"This could take a while." she sighed, and they both laughed heartily. She opened her door and slid out as gracefully as she could. "Hello house." she murmured, then turned to look up the street.

That was when she saw her.

A girl was stood nearby, exchanging her glances at the removal van to look at Alexia herself. She was begrudgingly beautiful; with waist length, pale blonde hair that was tied back by a red bow and big medium-blue eyes. She was slender and just as she stood in her school uniform oozed grace and sophistication. Their eyes met at once, and Alexia felt a shockwave run through her.

Whoever this girl was, there was definitely something about her. Something…familiar?

Whatever it was, it felt to Alexia as if it were meant to be.

"Ahem," the girl cleared her throat, "Hi! I'm Mina and I live next door."

_Mina…what a perfect name for her_, Alexia thought instantly.

"Good morning! My name's Alexia." she replied courteously, bowing slightly. "Good to meet you, Mina!" Mina's face beamed brightly, making her look even more beautiful.

"Same here! Which school will you be going to?" she inquired.

"I'm not really sure…" Alexia began.

"Alexia! Come and help me with this!" her father's voice drifted from inside her new home. "I have to go into the house now but I'll see you around, huh?" she said with regret, she didn't want the conversation to end yet.

"Yeah uh-huh!" Mina enthused. "I hope we'll be friends. See you around Alexia!"

"Bye for now Mina!" she waved, and walked up the path and closed the door behind her. She peered through the spy-hole and saw Mina still stood looking up the path with a comfortable smile on her face, then turn and walk away. "You know what, I think we already _are_ friends, Mina." she grinned to herself.

"Alexia!" her father yelled again, this time a little more irritated.

"Oops! Sorry dad!" she ran into the lounge to find him sat amongst boxes.

"What were you doing out there? You could have at least brought in something with you!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry again, I was talking to our new next door neighbour - her name's Mina." she smiled.

"Oh, really? How did she seem?" he asked with interest.

"Cool, totally friendly." the girl started to open a box. "She's about my age as well."

"Ah that's good, I've never seen the neighbours before, so I'm glad there's someone about your age - perhaps you'll become friends."

"I hope so, like I said she seemed cool." Alexia got up and looked out of the window - she noticed a kitten sat in the path, licking its paws clean. "Oh how cute! I wonder if it belongs to Mina?" she exclaimed out loud.

"Excuse me?" her father inquired.

"Oh, there's a kitten in the path, that's all." she smiled at him, then turned back. To her surprise and disappointment the cat had vanished. "Oh." she said sadly, then brightened again as a car pulled up behind the van. "Hey mom's here at last!" she grinned and ran out of the house. "Mom!"

"Alexia, I see you guys made it okay." she smiled.

"How was the drive?" Alexia gave her a hug.

"Terrible, you try driving with a zoo!" she laughed, indicating the car.

"How were they all?" the green haired girl asked anxiously. looking through the window at the row of cages in the back of the car. In them was a hamster, a rabbit and two green and red lovebirds.

"Fine, noisy but fine." her mother sighed. "Where's your dad?"

"Inside, trying to unpack but not doing too well." her daughter answered, picking up the hamster cage. "Hello Tawny, you should be asleep!" the hamster stuck its pink nose through the bars in greeting.

"You and those pets of yours, you have such a way with them!" the woman laughed again, taking the hamster off her; immediately it hid in its house. "See? He doesn't like me at all!" Alexia laughed once more, grabbed the rabbit's cage under one arm and the bird cage in the other hand, and they walked in.

Meanwhile, the kitten watched from under the hedgerow.

x x x x x

Artemis hummed as he wandered in through his cat-flap and sniffed the air.

"Cookies! Just what the doctor ordered!" he grinned to himself, wandering into the kitchen. "Mina, you know I could just eat a…ooh how did you guess??" he exclaimed as he jumped up onto the kitchen table.

"Not a chance Artemis, they're for our new neighbours." she smiled at him.

"New neighbours?" the white cat inquired.

"Are you blind? Didn't you notice the car on their drive?" she asked. "Anyway I'm making them these cookies then going over to get to know Alexia some more."

"Alexia?" the cat was puzzled.

"Alexia's their daughter, she must be about the same age as me." her eyes sparkled. "She's sooo pretty! Long green hair, really pale blue eyes - the colour of that jewel…argh what's it called? Aquamarine? Long legs, really graceful…" she sighed. "She seems nice enough too."

"Would it be alright for me to tag along? I'm interested."

"I don't see why not." the blonde smiled as she wrapped up the cookies. "There, a culinary masterpiece."

"For once." Artemis muttered.

"I heard that!" the Venusian snapped, hitting him upside his head as she passed him.

"Hey, wait for me!" he exclaimed as he jumped down and ran after her. Quickly they went down their path, and up the other.

"Here we go." she said, and pressed the doorbell; Alexia answered.

"Mina!" she exclaimed. "How nice to see you again!"

"I just thought I'd come round and see if I could help, and I made some cookies as a welcome gift." the blonde smiled.

"Oh yum! Please come in!" Alexia took a side-step to let the girl in.

It was then that she noticed Artemis, and crouched down to get a better look at him. "What a beautiful cat, what's its name?"

"His name's Artemis."

"Hi, Artemis! Hey what a peculiar mark, it's like a crescent moon!" she pointed out the bald patch on his head as she patted him, making him purr instantly.

"Yes, it is unusual isn't it?" Mina smiled. "Well he's certainly taken to you, he's not usually this friendly with strangers!"

"Well my parents say I have a way with animals…say you have to meet my parents!" Alexia got back up and let the girl and her cat in. "Mom, dad we have a visitor!" she led them into the lounge, where Alexia's parents were sat on the couch drinking coffee, still surrounded by boxes.

"Oh, well hello there!" Alexia's mother stood up and smiled.

"Mom this is Mina, and her cat Artemis." Alexia introduced.

"Hello, welcome to our neighbourhood. I hope you're settling in well." Mina said graciously, holding out the plate of cookies. "I baked these for you, I hope you like them."

"Well, what a polite girl you are Mina!" she exclaimed, taking the plate.

"Why, thank you Mrs…ummm…" Mina blushed.

"It's Risolto, dear, but you can called me Miaka." she replied. "And this is my husband, Dr Alfredo Risolto."

"Just Alfredo will do." he smiled at Mina, she bowed to him.

"You're a doctor? My friend's mother is a doctor too." she told them. "I'll have to introduce you to her Alexia, my friend I mean, not her mother!"

"Actually dad's a vet, maybe he can look at Artemis sometime." Alexia grinned.

"Well looking from here he looks very healthy." Alfredo remarked. Artemis was looking up at Alexia curiously. "And he seems taken with our Alexia too!"

"Heheh, silly Artemis!" Mina laughed, picking him up. She took a moment to inspect her neighbours. Miaka was of an average height, with a gentle face and shoulder-length black hair, which under the light Mina noticed shone with hints of deep blue and violet. Her eyes were large and deep chocolate brown. Alfredo was a handsome man, extremely tall and of a good build; his complexion was olive and his hair and eyes were jet black. On first impressions anyone would be rather nervous of this stern-looking man, however Mina could tell by his smile that really he was a amiable person.

"Why don't you take Mina up to your room Alexia? I'm sure you two have lots to talk about." Miaka smiled.

"Good idea, come on up." Alexia grinned and led the way to her bedroom.

"You unpacked already?!" Mina exclaimed as they walked into the neatly arranged room.

"Yup, I hate boxes." her new friend laughed. "What do you think?"

"It looks really comfortable and neat." Mina announced, sitting down in a chair by the desk. "So Alexia, tell me aaaall about yourself, we're dying to hear!" Artemis leapt into her lap, and Alexia positioned herself on her bed.

"Well, where should I begin? My full name as you know is Alexia Risolto, and I was 15 on the 24th June - so just two days ago. I've just moved from Kyoto where I've lived all my life; my best friend out there is a girl called Manami Hiyome, whom I've known since I was four. The reason we've moved is because my dad's taken over a veterinary practice here. My mom was a librarian back in Kyoto, and she's hoping to get a job at a local library here. I have four pets - a hamster called Tawny, a rabbit called Snuggles and two lovebirds called Rosa and Cupid. My interests are gardening, I had the garden to myself back in Kyoto because mom and dad never had time - I won the local best garden competition three years running; animals - mom blames dad being a vet! And ballet - I've been dancing since I was three, I've got a place at the local dance school already so I'm starting classes two nights a week from next week."

"Wow, ballet? Cool!" Mina gushed. "I _knew_ you must be a dancer of some sort, you even walk sooo gracefully!" Alexia blushed slightly.

"Thank you. Mina, do you think you could introduce me to some of your friends sometime? You see you're the only person I know here…"

"Sure!" the blonde exclaimed. "It'd be a pleasure!" suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her leg as Artemis dug his claws into her. She looked down, and he moved his eyes towards the clock. "Eek! Is it that time already? I'm really sorry to cut this short, Alexia, but I'm supposed to be meeting my friends right now! How about I bring some of them here later?"

"Sure, that would be wonderful." Alexia grinned. "Thanks ever so much for stopping by Mina, and you too Artemis." she tickled him behind the ears and he purred again. "If you ever need someone to watch him, let me know. I've always wanted a cat."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Mina beamed as they descended down the staircase. "It's been fantastic to talk to you again."

"You too, Mina." Alexia bid her new friend farewell as they left. Just as she was closing the door she noticed something in the shadows of the hedgerow - the kitten she'd seen earlier.

"You again?" she remarked gently. The cat's green eyes widened, and scooted away. "Oh well." she sighed, and closed the door.

x x x x x

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Mina gasped as she and Artemis reached the top step of the Hino Shrine. The others were already there, and they all peered at her curiously.

"What happened?" Rei asked, handing her a glass and filling it with lemonade.

"The most amazing thing - I have new neighbours!" she exclaimed, taking a seat. "Hope I haven't missed too much of the party?"

"No, we were just about to start - Serena was late as well." Lita remarked. The Scouts, although they had been together just a few short hours before had decided to meet again to celebrate their recent victory over Emperor Mu and the evil Sailor Universe. However each one of them realised their revelry would be marred with the absence of who should have been their guest-of-honour - Fargo. Mina looked over towards Amy, who was sat looking reflective.

"Did you say new neighbours, Mina?" Serena piped up quickly to change the subject from her tardiness.

"Yup, the Risoltos." she smiled.

"Do they have a cute son?" Lita inquired.

"Nup, but they have a daughter our age! Her name's Alexia and she seems really sweet. I've spent a little time with her just before I came here, that's why I was late. Hey Artemis you obviously liked her!"

"Yeah, there was something about her…" he murmured. "When she stroked me behind the ears it was really nice, familiar almost." the white cat looked towards Luna. "Say, can we talk in private, it's about Sailor Universe."

"Of course." Luna replied, and they left the group. "What is it?"

"It's not really about Universe, but I needed to get you away from the group without suspicion." he muttered.

"Oh yes?" Luna tilted her head as she sat down.

"Luna…do you remember Princess Charon?" he asked hesitantly.

"Why of course I do! The poor, poor girl…" Luna said sadly.

"Well, what do you think the chances would be that she _wasn't_ killed?" he whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous! You saw the explosion!" Luna exclaimed rather loudly. "There's no way she could have survived that!"

"But we thought Universe was dead, but she wasn't, was she?" Artemis pointed out.

"True…but what makes you think of her?" Luna inquired.

"Well first of all it's that Amy asked us about her earlier, remember? She wanted to know about her because she was mentioned in that memory that Mu gave her. Do you think we should tell them about her?"

"I don't see why not, she _is_ dead, after all." Luna answered.

"I'm still not sure about that…" Artemis sighed. "It's the new girl next door - everything about her screams Charon's name."

"Sorry?" Luna was puzzled.

"First, when I looked into her eyes I saw it." he said in an even lower voice.

"It?"

"You know…_it_. The light of a true princess, shining right there in Alexia's eyes! Then when she touched me it brought back memories of the Moon Kingdom and curling up in her lap. The way she looks - long, dark green hair, and the palest blue eyes I've ever seen; long legs, graceful mannerisms. She spoke of her interests - and they were animals, gardening and ballet! How's _that_ for a coincidence?" he declared.

"Hmmm…most unusual." Luna murmured. "However we mustn't jump to conclusions Artemis, if Charon _is_ still alive then there's the huge possibility that Estrella is too."

"Who _is_ Estrella?" Amy asked. The cats turned to look up at her.

"Amy…" Luna murmured. "Well we might as well tell you all, come on." she walked back to the group. "Everyone, could we have your attention? Now I'm sure Amy's told you all about her ordeal with Emperor Mu, and the memory he bestowed upon her."

"So that means she'll have mentioned Princess Charon and Estrella, am I right?" Artemis took over; the girls nodded. "Good. We've decided you might as well hear about them both - Luna?"

"Thank you Artemis. I'll begin with Estrella - she was the third feline advisor of Queen Serenity and the youngest - hardly a year old when her life was tragically taken away." she sighed. "She was very sensible for her age, quite independent when she wanted to be as well. She liked nothing but to show that she was as good as us older advisors, just because she was younger certainly didn't mean she was worth less. Charon's tale is a lot longer, so I will only tell you the basic things you need to know. Her full title was Outer Moon Princess – you, Serena, were Inner Moon Princess. She was the daughter of Queen Chara, Outer Moon Queen and best friend of Queen Serenity, and King Char of Charon, moon of Pluto. No one knew Charon existed until a month after her fourteenth birthday, which happened to be the same day that Estrella had been born. Up until then she had been a legend - nothing but a fairy tale."

"But why didn't Queen Chara and King Char tell people she was real?" Rei asked.

"Because they were worried for her safety." Artemis took up the story. "You see they had two children - a much older son called Char after his father and Charon. They knew they couldn't have any more children and their daughter was the apple of their eye. I personally think there was more behind it but we were never told. Anyway on her birthday and the day of Estrella's birth war broke out between Pluto and a planet in a neighbouring galaxy. The war grew more and more severe each day and finally Chara and Char had no choice but to help out Pluto, which was ruled by Chara's parents; Sailor Pluto is actually her sister. Anyway they didn't want their daughter to witness the atrocities of war so Chara wrote to Serenity, pleading her to take the girl in. Serenity immediately agreed to it, and so the Princess was brought to the Moon Kingdom. Having had no contact with anyone apart from her family and the workers of the palace of Charon she was naturally terrified, however you princesses soon helped her settle in. She and Estrella became extremely close, and Serenity asked Charon if she would like to look after her, which she quickly accepted. She was incredibly graceful - the best dancer in the galaxy, polite, had a love of nature and moreover was a powerful fighter. She was a psychic, with psychic-based powers. During the battle against the Dark Kingdom for the Moon she was determined and a real asset to the team, however tragedy struck - just an hour or so before the end of the war she left the group to head back to the palace, believing that Queen Serenity, myself and Luna were still stuck in there. Estrella followed quickly and we believed they might have been ambushed by an enemy - as you know there was a huge explosion and they were both killed."

"How sad," Amy murmured. "Thank you for telling us about them."

"I hope it wasn't too hard to talk about for you both." Rei added.

"Not at all, there's a lot more of good things I could say about them both and so many stories of what they did - however if I told you them all we'd be here for days!" Luna told them, a tear in her eye. "Oh dear, I didn't think I'd be this affected!" she sniffled a little. "They were both so young and had such potential for great things in life…"

"Wow, I've never seen Luna so emotional!" Serena murmured to Lita, who nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure wherever they are, they're happy." Rei reassured the cat.

"I certainly hope so…" Luna sighed.

x x x x x

The orange kitten meandered up the street with her head down.

"I can't believe, of all the places they could have moved to, they had to move to the same town as the Sailor Scouts." she muttered to herself.

"Ever thought it could be fate, Estrella?" a voice inquired from over her. Estrella looked up, and she gasped. Stood over her with her arms folded and a slight smile on her face was a young woman with long dark green hair and crimson eyes.

"P…P…Pluto!" the kitten finally whimpered; the woman nodded.

"Yes Estrella, and I have been watching you closely." the smile faded and she gazed at the cowering cat sternly. "And I thought I told you to resolve this back in Kyoto? So, why haven't you done your job yet?" Estrella relaxed, and looked up at the Plutonian bravely.

"There's been no need to, any problems have been cleared up by the other Scouts - they're strong enough without her!" Pluto shook her head.

"They have been, but there's something that's going to happen soon and it involves her."

"But…she's so happy! I don't want to ruin her life!" the kitten exclaimed angrily.

"Don't argue with me Estrella - you must do it." Pluto said firmly.

"Well if it's so important, why don't _you_ do it?" she retorted irately.

"Because it's not my mission - it's _yours_." suddenly she scooped the kitten up in her hands.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, trying to scratch the Scout.

"No, you're going to do this even if it means _dragging_ you to her house." Pluto said firmly and started to walk off.


	2. New Friends, New Opponents, New Pets

2 – New Friends, New Opponents, New Pets.

"Here we go, you're going to love her!" Mina grinned as she led Serena, Amy, Lita and Luna up the Risoltos' path the very next day.

"From what you've said, I think we will." Amy smiled back at her excited friend as she pressed the doorbell. Miaka was the one who answered.

"Well good morning Mina, back _again_? Aren't you getting fed up with us yet?" she asked in a teasing manner; Mina laughed heartily.

"Not one bit, I thought I'd bring over a few of my friends." she smiled.

"Hello Mrs Risolto, I'm Serena, and this is my cat Luna!" Serena pushed in front of Mina and took her hands. "I hope you're settling in well!" Miaka chuckled merrily.

"Nice to meet you Serena, you're a lively one! Anyway please call me Miaka - all of you."

"Hello Miaka, I'm Lita." Lita smiled, "And this is Amy."

"Good morning." Amy murmured shyly.

"Lita and Amy, well you all have lovely names." Miaka smiled. "Please come on in, Alexia's in the basement."

"Thanks, how do we get to there?" Mina asked as they walked in.

"Oooh your house is pretty!" Serena exclaimed.

"I'm glad you think so Serena, it'd be a great deal prettier if there weren't so many boxes!" Miaka laughed, opening a door. As soon as she did beautiful piano music floated out of the room. "Now just go down these stairs and you'll find her!"

"Thanks Miaka, see you later!" Mina smiled, and led the way down.

"What a nice lady!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'd like a mother like her." Lita agreed rather quietly.

"I bet she can be strict though, she reminds me of my mom…" Serena shuddered. "She probably moans about homework and not getting up for schoooo…" she froze, and her eyes started to shine. "Ooooh!" she'd spotted Alexia at the bottom of the stairs, executing a perfect arabesque.

"Wow!" Lita and Amy exclaimed. The girl stopped and looked up at the girls in surprise, at last she noticed Mina.

"Oh hey! Come down!" she gestured for them all to join her as she switched the music off.

"I brought some friends to meet you - Alexia this is Serena, Lita and Amy. You guys this is Alexia Risolto."

"Hello, nice to meet you. Oh, Mina, you haven't introduced Luna!" Serena indicated the black cat perched on her shoulder.

"Oh, another cat! Hello Luna!" Alexia scratched Luna behind the ears, and just as Artemis had she began to purr. "Heeey, she has the same mark on her head as Artemis!" Mina felt a rock drop into her stomach as she exchanged glances with her friends.

"Oh, um, that's because Luna is Artemis's…sister! Yeah that's it they're siblings!" Mina giggled, sweatdropping.

"Oh right, that explains it." Alexia smiled.

"That move you did, balancing on your tip-toe like that…it was incredible!" Lita exclaimed.

"Oh thanks, it takes a lot of practising and training."

"I hear you've been practising ballet since you were three? That's a terribly long time." Amy said softly; Alexia nodded.

"Yep, that's right."

"Oh, and could I ask? Your surname is very unusual - where does it originate from?" the blue-haired girl inquired.

"It's Italian for resolved, my parents say it suits me because I can be pretty determined at times!" she laughed. "My father's Italian you see, his parents divorced and he moved out here with his dad when he got a job."

"I see, thank you for explaining." Amy smiled.

"So do you still have relatives in Italy then?" Serena asked excitedly.

"Yup, we go out there every summer to stop with my aunt and uncle - all my relatives live really close together so we have huge parties, it's so much fun." she said dreamily.

"Cool, so do you know a lot of Italian?" Lita inquired. "And are the guys all really as cute as they are on TV?" Alexia giggled.

"Yes they are, definitely." she smiled. "And I'm almost fluent in Italian actually."

"Ooooh…" all of the other girls sighed in awe.

"Anyway, I'm done down here, why don't we go up?" she grabbed the towel which was lying next to the CD player and put it around her neck. Just as they were about to walk up the stairs Miaka stuck her head around the door:

"Alexia honey? Snuggles needs some more water, just thought I'd let you know." she called to her daughter.

"Oh, thanks mom I'll get onto it right away." Alexia called back.

"Snuggles?" Serena inquired.

"My rabbit, c'mon, I'll show you." they all headed from the basement to the back garden. Against the wall of the house was a hutch, containing the white and grey rabbit.

"Oh, how cute!" Serena gushed. "Hello, bunny!"

"Good morning Snuggles, are you feeling thirsty?" Alexia asked sweetly as she took the water bottle off of the hutch and took it inside to fill.

"Well?" Mina quickly whispered to the others.

"She's sooo cool!" Serena squealed excitedly under her breath.

"She seems like a very pleasant person Mina, I think she will become a good friend of ours." Amy agreed in her own way.

"Yeah." Lita added.

"Luna?" Mina looked at the cat curiously.

"What? Oh Alexia? Yes she appears to be…a very charming girl indeed." she said distantly. "I've got to go and meet Artemis now, goodbye." she leapt from Serena's arms and bounded off.

"Weird, Artemis never mentioned a meeting!" Mina exclaimed, then hushed herself as Alexia reappeared.

"There you go Snugs!" she announced, and the rabbit stuck its twitching nose through the bars and sniffled. "Hey you know mom she seems to have got used to her new surroundings already, she looks a lot happier today." Miaka laughed as she looked at them through the open window.

"Oh Alexia, the way you talk about those pets of yours anyone would think they could talk or something!"

"I wish mom, wouldn't it be cool? Don't you guys agree, wouldn't it be great if say Luna or Artemis could talk?" Alexia questioned innocently.

"Uhh…yeeeah…hehehe." Mina and Serena giggled in unison, sweatdropping.

_If only she knew_! they both thought. All of a sudden Amy gasped, and clutched her wrist as her communicator went off.

"What's that?" Alexia inquired.

"Oh it's my wrist-watch's alarm - it's going off to remind me that we all have to be at the temple to help Rei right now!" Amy exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness, I'd forgotten!" Mina smacked her hand against her forehead. "I can't believe we have to cut this short _again_! So sorry Alexia, some day we'll have to take you with us to meet Rei - she's a real-life Miko! She's psychic too! See you later!"

"Bye Alexia, it's been soooo great to meet ya! I'll come visit soon!" Serena grinned.

"Yeah me too!" Lita waved.

"It was a pleasure." Amy bowed before she departed.

"Bye everyone…" Alexia sighed. "They're so lucky, having places to go." she sat on the grass and her mother came to sit next to her.

"Oh honey, you'll be just like that soon! You start your new school in two days time! There'll be lots of girls your age there!"

"Mmmhmm, I'm fine mom, just a little homesick, I guess." she looked up. "Is it alright if I go and phone Manami?"

"Sure." Miaka smiled sympathetically. "Take as long as you want as well."

"Gosh, thanks." she kissed her mother on the cheek and skipped inside.

x x x x x

Meanwhile the girls were stood in front of Mina's, answering the communication from Rei.

"I felt a strange presence near where you guys were, I don't think it's from the Negaverse but it's certainly _not_ from this world." she explained.

"Right, I'll check it out on my computer and get back to you if I find anything." Amy told her.

"Okay, see you guys later." Rei nodded and signed off.

"You mean we didn't really have to go help Rei?!" Serena gasped. "We lied to Alexia!"

"Well we couldn't exactly say we had Scout duty, could we?" Lita remarked.

"Oh…yeah." Serena giggled bashfully. "Good point!"

"I've got it!" Amy exclaimed as she tapped away on her pocket-sized computer. "Follow me!"

"Right." the others nodded and they ran after the Mercurian.

x x x x x

"Do we ever get a break?" Serena groaned as they reached their destination. "We've had what, one day off and we're back on the job _already_?"

"Yup, nothing like being a Champion of Justice, hey?" Mina teased as they looked on. The Venusian couldn't help but think it looked like a giant polar bear crossed with some kind of wild cat; with its shaggy white fur, a long tail which waved around violently, cat-like green eyes and huge powerful paws with claws that looked as if they could scratch a diamond with the slightest of touches. At that moment it was stalking round like a tiger hunting an antelope and roaring threateningly at the swerving cars below it. "Anyway, what are we waiting for?"

"Mercury Star Power - Make Up!"

"Jupiter Star Power - Make Up!"

"Venus Star Power - Make Up!"

"Moon Crystal Power - Make Up!"

The four Scouts took to their positions as their 'fearless' leader started to talk:

"Hey, you over there! How dare you disturb a Sailor Scout's break! I am Sailor Moon - and thanks to you I'm not in a good mood!"

"And I am Sailor Mercury-"

"Sailor Jupiter-"

"Sailor Venus-"

"And on behalf of our planets - you're punished!" the three others called out together. The creature had just caught a car under one of its mighty paws and was taking pleasure in letting it go for a moment then catching it again like a cat with a mouse when its incredible hearing made out the yells of the Scouts, which were merely squeaks to it. Finally letting its plaything escape it turned to look at the girls and roared again, except this time it sounded more like laughter.

"Grrrrrawwmaaath!" it announced, Grawmath being its name, then fired a huge energy blast at them, sending them scattering.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I certainly don't plan on sticking round here for long." Sailor Jupiter yelled at her friends over the loud sound of flames coming from a blazing car near her. "Jupiter Thunder!" She shot back, however all the electric charge did was get absorbed into the long fur of the monster. Grawmath let out what sounded like a contented sigh as it felt its power be recharged.

"Dammit, Venus Love Chain - Encircle!" Venus was up next, this time slightly more effective as the golden hearts wrapped around Grawmath's middle, causing it to rear up on its hind legs.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury joined in and soon the white furred creature was imprisoned in ice as well as the chain of golden hearts.

"Wow, looks like I'm not needed here!" Sailor Mars teased as she came running up.

"Don't be too sure…" Amy murmured, just as Grawmath broke free.

"Graaaaamaaaaaath!" it hisseed angrily as its dishevelled fur suddenly stood on end like a frightened cat's and crackled with the charge that Jupiter had given it. In an instant it ducked its head down beneath its front paws, and fur shot at the girls like needles, one of which scraped past Sailor Moon's arm, cutting her flesh slightly.

"Owww!" she cried out.

"Mars Celestial Fire - Surround!" Mars took her chance as the monster stood half snarling, half laughing at Sailor Moon's pain. Grawmath yet again raised up on its back legs and howled like a wolf as the flames singed its fur, letting off a foul stench. That was all the blonde leader of the Sailor Scouts needed.

"Moon Sceptre Activation!" she called, and soon their adversary was nothing but dust.

"Hmmm, that was kind of…dissatisfying." Jupiter remarked, folding her arms.

"Well not all fights can be as exciting as the ones we've had recently." Venus replied.

"Hey do you guys wanna come back to the temple to help out? We've been rushed off our feet this morning." Rei asked as she changed back.

"Hey sure, sounds like fun." Mina grinned.

"Awww, do I _have_ to?" Serena moaned.

"Come on Serena, it'll only be for a couple of hours, right Rei?" Amy inquired.

"Yup, then we can go for ice cream…"

"Ice cream? Did you say ice cream? Count me in!" Serena's feelings changed in record time.

"Heh, works like a charm." the black-haired girl murmured under her breath.

All the while this had been happening a figure had been stood nearby.

"See? It's already beginning Estrella." Pluto murmured to the kitten in her arms.

"But…" Estrella was about to reply.

"But nothing Estrella." she looked down at her with the usual firm look in her eyes. "I rescued you and Charon in your time of need, think of it as returning the favour," the Plutonian paused. "Anyway, whatever would Queen Serenity think? One of her trusted advisors being so aloof?" the kitten looked towards the ground.

"You're right…alright, let's go." she murmured meekly.

"That's more like it." with that Pluto turned on her heel and walked away.

x x x x x

"Anyway, I'd better let you go Manni - I'll talk to you again soon alright?" Alexia twisted the phone cord around her fingers as she sat on the bottom step. "Sure thing, you too. Bye." she hung up and sighed.

"Nice chat sweetie?" Miaka walked over as her daughter got to her feet.

"Yeah, Manami's doing just fine by the sound of things." she smiled. "She's lucky, she still has all her friends out there, and I have no one…" she started to sniffle, then suddenly broke down. "Mom I miss Kyoto! I miss our old house, the garden, Manami and my other friends…I even miss my teachers! Why did dad have to get this stupid job? We were happy enough there!" her mother sat next to her on the step and wrapped her arms around her.

"Oh Al, you have to understand. Sometimes there's nothing anyone can do! How do you think we felt, it wasn't an easy choice for us as well you know? And what about your father, he had to move _countries_ as a boy!"

"I…know." she hiccupped. "I'm sorry, I'm being selfish…"

"Not at all honey, anyway you shouldn't be sad! You've only been here a day and already you've made friends! Mina and the other girls seem extremely genuine and I can feel you're all going to be great friends!" Miaka grinned.

"Really?" Alexia asked hopefully.

"Oh, definitely!" her mother laughed just as the doorbell rang. "Oh I wonder who that could be?" she got to her feet and opened the door. "Oh my goodness! Trista!" the woman exclaimed at the green-haired Plutonian stood on her doorstep.

"Hello, Aunt Miaka." Trista smiled, hugging Miaka with her free arm (the other, of course, was still holding Estrella who at that moment was trying to scratch the young woman, having had a sudden change of heart.)

"Trista? Cousin Trista's here?" Alexia's face suddenly lit up as she leapt to her feet to hug her cousin.

"Well you told me to come and visit when I wanted." Trista smiled. "So I thought I'd drop by and also give you a welcome present Alexia." she held Estrella out to her. "You always said you wanted a cat of your own."

"Oooh! It's just like the cat I saw outside here yesterday!" Alexia squealed. "Oh he's lovely!"

"She, actually." Trista smiled. "And she's all yours - that's if it's alright with your mom…"

"Yes, of course it is." Miaka said, rather distantly actually.

"Yes! Oh what shall I call you?" Alexia looked down at the nervous kitten in her arms. "Oh yes I know, because you're orange why don't we call you Marmalade? Yes I like that!" Trista laughed, especially when she noticed Estrella's dismay at her new name. "Oh I'm so happy! Wait 'til I tell Mina about you!"

"I'm sorry it's such a short visit, but I'm afraid I've got to go now - look after her for me cousin, she's very special." Trista winked and opened the door.

"Oh come and visit us again soon!" Miaka exclaimed. "You'll have to stop by for dinner when we're unpacked properly!"

"Bye Trista, and thanks so much for the gift!" Alexia beamed, waving.

"It was my pleasure." with that Trista closed the door behind her.

"Well, that was nice of her!" Alexia's mother smiled, looking at her daughter as she held the kitten up in front of her face and gazed into her emerald-green eyes.

"Yes…" the girl murmured. _There's something about you kitty, something unusual…_ she thought to herself. _The sparkle in your eyes, it's so vibrant…_ Meanwhile the kitten was trying desperately not to let her emotions take her over.

_I won't speak out…I can't speak out…and I surely can't call you by your real name_! she thought with a slight panic. _Oh I do wish you could remember me, or at least have given me a better name_!

x x x x x

_"Quickly! This way!" Alexia found herself in what she could only describe as a war zone, following a girl with long blonde hair and three others away from a falling column._

_"Wait! Queen Serenity's still in there!" one of the other girls, who had short, blue hair, exclaimed._

_"Mercury's right, we can't leave her!" another one, this time with a long brown ponytail, declared. They suddenly stopped running when they realised one of their number had stopped and was looking back. Alexia was staring back at the ruined palace they had just run from. _

_"Charon? What's wrong?" The black-haired girl, who was also with the group, inquired as she walked up to her. Alexia (or was her name Charon?) turned to look at her, determined that no one was going to stop her from doing what she was about to do._

_"Estrella, Luna and Artemis are there too. I have to go back, we can't just leave them behind!" she announced and ran back towards the building._

_"Charon!" the others yelled after her. _

_She was oblivious to their yells as she entered the destroyed entrance hall of the once magnificent palace. _

_"Your Majesty! Estrella, Luna, Artemis!" she called out, but she was worried that her voice had been drowned out by the sounds of explosions and falling marble that surrounded her. _

_"Charon!" her heart leapt as a familiar voice shouted back to her and she felt something collide against her foot. She looked down to face an orange kitten, who must've skidded across the floor to her. A golden crescent moon shone on the cat's forehead and her green eyes were full of anxiety._

_"Estrella!" Charon exclaimed, full of relief. "Where are Queen Serenity, Luna and Artemis?"_

_"They're safe! Come on, it's too dangerous here!" the kitten informed her quickly, before starting back for the exit with the girl._

_"Not so fast, Princess…" a voice hissed suddenly from behind them. Turning around once again Charon came to face with a woman._

_She was clad in a black leotard and red, knee-length boots. Gold bangles sparkled on her upper arms and a strange lens, made of blue glass, covered one of her eyes. Her white and red hair sprouted from the middle of her head and fell down the right side of her face._

_Charon knew immediately who she must be._

_One of the Dark Queen's Seven Shadows._

The warrioress from the Negaverse bared her teeth in a triumphant grin as she attempted to stare down Charon.

"_Take in what is left of your precious home…for this shall be your last memory of it!" she let out a laugh as she sent forth a barrage of gold-coloured capsules._

"_No, you shall not win!" Charon yelled back at her, raising her hands above her head "Charon Psy-Wave!" Charon spread her arms out in front of her as she called all the name of her attack and felt a warmth against her forehead as a beam of energy shot towards the capsules. As the two attacks combined there was a huge reaction. Charon covered her eyes and yelled out as the light became pure white and she felt like the sound of the huge blast shattered her eardrums._

_Then, everything was black…_

…"Woah!" Alexia sat up in her bed and gasped for breath. "What _was_ that??" she looked out through her bedroom window - it was a full moon that evening. "That was such a strange dream…those girls looked really familiar to me, like I met them a long time ago…but I can't think where I met them. And I mentioned Luna, Artemis and…" her pale eyes drifted to gaze at the kitten, fast asleep on the foot of her bed. "Marmie? But her name was something else…" she scratched her head. "Strange, I can't actually remember what it was! And now I come to think about it _I_ had a different name, too…And then there was the other person I mentioned, Queen Serenity, now _that's_ a pretty name!" she snuggled back under her covers and sighed blissfully as she closed her eyes. "Oh well, it was only a dream, kinda scary but still, just a dream…"


	3. Suspicions Confirmed

3 – Suspicions Confirmed.

"Arrrgh, I'm sooo nervous! No one I know goes here!" Alexia exclaimed to herself nervously as she stood outside of her new school. She looked down at her uniform to check she looked as neat as she could then with one last deep breath walked in through the gates of the all-girl's school she was to attend. "Now to find my class and get on with it." she said confidently. As she walked down the corridors she could feel the other girls staring at her, which made her feel even more nervous. At long last she reached the room she'd been told to go to, the room where her new classmates would be. She poked her head round the door, and immediately the whole class turned to stare at her.

"H…Hello." she said nervously. "I'm new here, this is room 12, isn't it?"

Rei was stood talking to one of the other girls near the back of the room. At the sound of the new voice she looked up and gasped slightly. The newcomer looked exactly like the girl Mina had described to her just three days ago at the temple. Swiftly she shoved through the crowd which was forming around Alexia and took her hands in hers.

"Hi, you must be Alexia! I'm Rei Hino." she smiled, looking into her pale eyes - a stark contrast to her own.

"Rei? Oh, Mina's friend!!" Alexia declared with joy. "Oh it's nice to meet you at last!"

"And you too, so you're in my class? This is going to be great." just looking at Alexia filled the Martian with happiness and a very good feeling. "I just know we're going to be friends!"

"Me too…" the green haired girl said softly, "I feel like we were friends before we even met…"

"Ditto." Rei whispered back in astonishment. _This is unbelievable! I've never felt this close to someone on first meeting_! The psychic thought to herself. _There is certainly something unusual about her…_ "Anyway, let me show you to your seat…hey here's a free one, right next to me!" she took her seat and Alexia did the same. "So you live next door to Mina? How are you settling in?"

"Well it's been pretty hard, leaving all my old friends behind and everything, but so far everyone I've met has been great. I'm very fortunate to have moved in next door to someone my age." Rei nodded. "So, I hear you're a priestess at a temple! That sounds fascinating! Where is the temple?"

"It's on Sendai Hill, you can't miss it." she smiled. "Hey why don't you come around this evening? Mina and the others will be there too!"

"Cool! I'd love to."

"Great, what's your last class today? We can meet up outside school and catch the bus together."

"Oooh…lessee…" Alexia pulled out a card which had her timetable printed on it. "Ummm…aha! It's English."

"Okay, well I have a music lesson then, so if we just wait at the top gates then we can go!"

"Oh, I might have to go home first, to let my parents know where I am…"

"Oh you can phone from my house, my grandfather won't mind." Rei said casually. Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the school bell. "Time to go, what do you have first?"

"Math." Alexia read from her card.

"Me too!" the black-haired psychic said enthusiastically. "C'mon, the teacher's a real pain when it comes to punctuality!" the girls got up, grabbed their bags and left the room.

x x x x x

"Wow, what a beautiful place!" Alexia gasped as she and Rei reached the top step of the Hino Shrine. Her eyes sparkled at the sight in front of her and her new friend smiled.

"Thanks, we try our best to keep it in good order."

"I can tell…" Alexia's voice trailed off as a small, bald old man ran up.

"Reeei! Who is this vision of beauty? Why hello there young lady I'm Rei's grandfather, would you like a job here?" he looked Alexia up and down, and she blushed.

"Grandpaaa…" Rei muttered, looking embarrassed. "Please stop intimidating my friend! Her name's Alexia - she's new to the area."

"Ahhhh! So, Alexia, where are you from? Can I get you a drink, or how about a job?"

"GRANDPA!" Rei screamed, making Alexia jump.

"Okay, okay I'm going! Ungrateful granddaughter…" he mumbled as he walked off, leaving Rei to sweatdrop.

"I'm so sorry about that." she apologised. "He can get rather over-excited."

"I see…"

"Yo Rei, yo Rei's friend, did you have a good day at school?" another male voice, this one younger sounding than Rei's crazy grandfather, piped up. Alexia turned to face a youth, a couple of years older than herself, who had long, shaggy brown hair. He was wearing clothes that made Alexia realise that he must work there and a bright smile on his face.

"Yeah, thanks. This is Alexia Risolto, she just moved to the area, it was her first day at my school today." The black-haired Scout quickly did the introductions. "Alexia, this is Chad, he helps out around here."

"Cool to meet you, Alexia." Chad said, nodding his head. "Sorry I can't hang around and chat to you guys, gotta mend some loose tiles on the roof." With that he wandered off back towards the Rei's home.

"He seemed nice." Alexia remarked and Rei nodded, her cheeks going slightly red.

"Hey Rei, Alexia!" Mina called to them, and Rei felt relieved that the blonde's appearance had distracted Alexia before she had noticed how she was blushing. Following behind were Lita, Amy, Artemis, Luna and a handsome, dark-haired, blue-eyed youth who Alexia didn't recognise; finally dragging herself up was Serena.

"Rei, have you ever thought about having an _escalator_ installed?" she groaned as she collapsed on the top step.

"No, Serena, and I'm not planning to either." she muttered, folding her arms. "Anyway you need all the exercise you can get with the amount of cake you stuff yourself with…"

"Reeei!" Serena yelled. "You little…"

"Ahem." Lita quickly placed herself between the girls, who were throwing each other dirty looks. "You're worrying our guest."

"You'll have to get used to those two arguing, we certainly have." Amy told Alexia.

"Oh, right, okay, I'll remember that!" Alexia giggled.

"Girls? Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?" the youth spoke up.

"Oh!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing hold of his arm. "Darien, this is Alexia Risolto, Mina's new next-door neighbour. Alexia this is Darien Shields, my boyfriend." she blushed slightly, and Alexia bowed.

"Nice to meet you Alexia." he smiled dashingly at her.

"Same here." she grinned back. _Wow, he's cute - lucky Serena_! she thought to herself, then turned to Rei. "Hey Rei, can I borrow the telephone to call my parents?"

"Sure thing, follow me." Rei took her inside, where she quickly called home and informed her mother she was with Mina and her friends and that she would be back later. As they went back to the others Rei was walking along ahead of her, her long hair swishing against her back, and for some reason this moment caused Alexia to remember her dream.

"Oh, weird!" Alexia exclaimed unexpectedly; stopping and placing her hand on her forehead.

"Sorry?" Rei turned to stare at the girl in confusion; the other girls also looked puzzled.

"For some reason following you reminded me of a dream I had the night before last, that's all." She said. "It was really odd, and really vivid. I was with these other girls, who by the way looked _really_ familiar, in this strange place that looked like a war zone…a blonde girl was leading me and the other 3 girls away from the ruins of this palace when I stopped and said I needed to go back because some people had been left behind…they called me something different, I can't remember what now. Anyway, I ran back and called out the names of the people who we'd left behind – it was Luna, Artemis, Marmalade, who wasn't called that but I don't remember what I called her, plus she had a crescent moon mark on her forehead like Luna and Artemis have, and someone else – oh, it was such a nice name too, whatever was it? – then Marmalade came along and told me that they were all safe – a talking cat, it was so odd! Anyway, we were going to go back when all of a sudden this weird-looking woman, who called me 'princess', attacked us! I shot this light at these strange capsule-things she'd thrown at us from my forehead and said something, which _again_ I can't recall for the life of me. My light and the woman's attack collided and blew up – then there was a really loud explosion and everything went black and I woke up…" suddenly her eyes lit up as she remembered something. "Of _course_! The name of the other person I went back for was _Queen Serenity_! Isn't that just the prettiest name you've ever heard?!"

There was a huge reaction.

Rei managed to stop herself before she cried out in surprise. Lita clamped her hand over Serena's mouth before she could squeal; Darien looked away from the group; Mina and Amy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and Luna and Artemis exchanged a glance, got to their feet and walked away.

"Oh, where are they going?" Alexia remarked.

"I don't know, they're always wandering off by themselves." Mina smiled. "We've got used to it."

"Right, bye Luna, Artemis." she smiled as they turned to look at her. "Wow, it was like they understood me or something!"

"Umm, I have a question, who's Marmalade?" Lita inquired, feeling slightly numb. _How could she dream about Queen Serenity? It can't be a coincidence, can it_?

"Oh, Marmalade's my kitten! My cousin Trista gave her to me the other day as a gift, she's reeeally unusual - bright orange! My dad said he's never seen anything like her, and ginger cats are usually male!"

"Wow, really? Cool." Serena grinned nervously, her mind still ticking over the fact that a girl who wasn't a Scout had mentioned Queen Serenity - her own mother.

"That dream sounds rather unusual." Amy said in her soft voice.

"It was! Anyway, it was only a dream…although my parents have wondered if I'm psychic before…"

"Really, you mean other things have happened?" Rei inquired, Alexia nodded.

"Yeah, I've had a couple of prophetic dreams before now…nothing for a while now though." she shrugged. "I think they could just be coincidences."

"Yeah…" the group fell into silence.

x x x x x

"That dream was no accident." Luna muttered as she and her fellow feline companion sat under one of the trees. "You were right, Artemis - everything about her is like Charon, and that glow in her eyes is unmistakable - she's one of us for sure!"

"But what are we going to do?" Artemis sighed.

"I honestly have no idea…because we weren't ever given any charge over Charon and because she thought Charon was dead Serenity only granted us the power to revive the 5 Inner Scouts…" Luna commented. "There's only one person who can revive her powers…"

"Estrella." they said in unison.

"So if Estrella is dead, then there's no chance." Artemis sighed again. "This is a tough one."

"Definitely." Luna murmured. "I don't think we should tell the other Scouts about this - it's far too risky."

"Hello, Luna, Artemis."

The cats froze.

A soft voice had greeted them from above, a soft voice that both of them recognised in a heartbeat. Slowly they raised their heads to look at the boughs of the cherry tree. Stood on the lowest branch was a bright orange kitten, who gazed seriously at them with her large green eyes. Gracefully she leapt off, and landed nimbly on her feet in front of them.

"Could it be…?" Luna gasped, as the newcomer closed her eyes; and in a burst of light the familiar crescent moon symbol appeared on her forehead.

"Estrella!" the older cats got to their feet to circle her.

"Yes, it's me." she reassured them. "You're not hallucinating."

"Where have you been? We thought you were dead!" Luna exclaimed.

"Well, isn't life full of surprises? I was saved by Princess Pluto." she remarked. "As well as, as you've already deduced, Princess Charon."

"So she _is_ Charon?" Luna said, Estrella nodded.

"Of course."

"My word Estrella, you don't look any different but it seems your personality's changed." Artemis spoke up; she looked at him sedately.

"Earth is a tough place. Sometimes you have to change to survive." she said honestly. "I haven't changed that much really, it's just this situation needs a serious attitude rather than a carefree one." this remark stunned the cats even more - the Estrella they knew would never have been so sober!

"So, have you revived her? Surely not, otherwise she wouldn't be speaking so frankly about Serenity and that dream she had." Luna inquired.

"That's right, I haven't." Estrella replied.

"Can I guess that you're Marmalade? Her new kitten?" Artemis asked, and the orange cat looked embarrassed.

"Please, don't call me that." she muttered. "I can't believe Pluto would just stand there and let her give me such an awful name!"

"Pluto? What's she got to do with this?" Luna asked.

"Quite a bit. She's been watching me since we were still in Kyoto. She took me to Alexia's house because she told me it was time to tell her who she really is. She's pretending to be Alexia's cousin, Trista."

"That seems rather strange, what with her being Charon's aunt." Luna mentioned.

"Wait a moment…exactly how long had it been since you first realised who Alexia really was? You said Pluto was watching you while you were still in Kyoto." Artemis cut in, curious. Estrella looked down at the ground, feeling slightly ashamed of herself.

"I've known for about two months, I guess. Before then I couldn't remember anything about the past, apart from I needed to find a girl. Then I saw her one day running home from school and it all came flooding back. The reason why I haven't told her yet is because she hasn't been needed…you have been coping just fine without her. She seemed so happy, I didn't want to turn her life upside down."

"Yet you followed her here?" Luna remarked.

"Yes…because I can't face being away from her, even though it is so difficult." She sighed. "I can no longer avoid telling her now – Pluto has made sure of that. She told me just before taking me to Alexia that something's going to happen soon that involves Charon, and so that's why she needs to be re-awoken."

"Really? Any idea what?"

"Not a clue. So now I'm looking for the right moment. I want to tell her when she's by herself - it'll be easier I think."

"Very well," Luna nodded. "I still can't believe it's you Estrella, it's incredible!" the kitten laughed.

"I'm not surprised about you - as soon as I saw Mina for the first time I knew she was Venus…so tell me, which one of them is the Moon Princess?" The black and white cats looked at one another, then turned to face their comrade.

"Serena."

"Serena? _SERENA_? Heh…ehe…eheheheheheeheeheeeee!" the kitten rolled onto her back and giggled violently, kicking her legs in the air. "Heeheeheee…good joke! I've been observing her today at her school - what a dunce! And she's so clumsy too!" she rolled onto her stomach, breathless. "Now come on, who is it _really_?"

"Umm…we weren't joking." Artemis told her. "Serena _is_ the Moon Princess."

"Whaaat?" Estrella exclaimed rather loudly. "What is the world coming to?" she shook her head. "So she I guess is the famous Sailor Moon? And let me work out the rest…Amy is Mercury, Lita is Jupiter and Rei is Mars?"

"Correct answer." Luna smiled. "So what do you want us to do to help you?"

"Nothing," came the response. "I want you say nothing about this to the other Scouts, if they ask I'm just an ordinary cat - that's why I'm hiding my symbol from Alexia, it would be too much of a problem if she linked us then told them; the less they know the better for now. I need to be the one to tell Alexia of her destiny, no one else." she turned away. "I'm going to head back to Alexia's house. I'll see you both again soon."

"Yes, 'bye Estrella." Luna said as she watched the kitten trot off. "Well I never, who would've thought this would happen so suddenly?"

"Yeah, if we thought the re-appearance of one Scout was enough…"

"At least this one's going to be on our side."

"I guess so. Anyway, let's go back to the others." the white cat got to his feet, and Luna swiftly followed lead. She couldn't help but feel slightly excited by the news that there was a 7th Scout. She lifted her brown eyes to look over at the girls then stopped in her tracks.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. Artemis stopped to turn at look at her.

"What is it Luna?"

"Look at them…" she murmured with astonishment in her voice. He turned back to gaze upon the Scouts and their companion, and his eyes also widened in amazement.

The girls were sat in an orderly fashion - Serena sat opposite the rest, who were sat in a neat line. Closest to the cats was Lita, next to her Mina, Rei, Alexia then Amy. There was a distinct gap between the last two girls.

"It's just like back on the Moon…" Luna whispered. "They _always_ sat like that when they were talking…"

"And there's even a gap - where Universe would've sat between Charon and Mercury." the other cat added, Luna nodded, a sad look in her eyes.

"Yes, I see."

x x x x x

When Alexia got home later all she wanted to do was go upstairs and relax. Humming to herself happily she closed her bedroom door behind her, switched on her radio and looked around as she leant against her desk. Cupid trilled to her from his and Rosa's cage and she smiled.

"Hello sweetie, are you pleased to see me today?" she asked him. He tilted his head to one side and his beady black eyes sparkled. "I hope you've had as good a day as I have." Alexia smiled. "My new school's wonderful, and I made another new friend! Her name's Rei, and she lives in a temple! Ooh she's got two birds too - two big ravens called Deimos and Phobos. I think you'd be scared of them though." she giggled, then looked towards her bed. Curled up on a cushion at the foot of the bed was Estrella, seemingly fast asleep.

"Oh, hello, Marmalade." she went to sit down next to her, stroking the soft fur on her back. "I wonder if you've had an exciting day?" she looked at the kitten's peaceful face. "I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic new pet. Trista really is observant - I've never told her I wanted a cat before…" she got back to her feet, and the cat's green eyes opened slightly to watch Alexia look out of the window. "Oh well, you and I are going to have a great time together, Marmie. You just wait and see." Estrella shuddered at the sound of _that_ name. "I'm going to introduce you to Mina and the others really soon." she turned back. "Oh, you're awake, Marmie! Oooh that reminds me, I really ought to get you a collar with your name on so that if you get lost people will know you belong to me!"

That was enough for the kitten.

Just being called that name was a little over too much - but having a collar? _I'm not some dumb, ordinary house cat_! She thought pretentiously, _And a collar with MARMALADE written on it? Give me a break_! She got to her feet as Alexia continued, facing the window again.

"Oh and we'll get you a sweet little food bowl with your name painted on it…oh I want everyone to know you're mine! Then when you're walking down the street people can say 'Oh look there goes Alexia's cat, Marmalade!"

"That. Is. Not. My. Name." came the stiff response. The girl straightened up, her pale eyes wide with surprise. Cautiously she turned her head to look over her shoulder, Estrella was on her feet on the bed, breathing rather deeply.

"E…Excuse me?" she managed to squeak.

"I said, that isn't my name." the cat repeated. "My name is Estrella."

"You…you can…talk?" Alexia gingerly crept to the edge of the bed and knelt down.

"Yes, I can." Estrella sat down. "Alexia, I've been watching you for a while now, and there's something you really ought to know…"

"What's that?" the girl asked, her heart fluttering in her chest like a wild bird trapped in a cage.

"That you, Alexia Risolto, are a very special young lady indeed." the kitten said seriously, yet with a slight hint of excitement. "You are a Champion of Justice. You are Sailor Charon."


	4. Some Kind of Purpose

4 – 'Some Kind of Purpose.' 

"Whaaat? Um, wait a moment here." Alexia giggled nervously as she paced around the room. "It's enough to discover that my cat talks, without you telling me I'm some kind of super-hero too!" she held her hand up to her forehead. "It doesn't _feel_ like I'm burning up…but I gotta be sick or something!" Estrella shook her head.

"You aren't ill, Alexia. You are Sailor Charon, and moreover the princess of Charon - the moon of Pluto, also known as the Outer Moon Princess."

"WHAT?!" Alexia screamed. "Stop telling me these things!" She sat down in her desk chair. "I must be dreaming, that's it. I'll wake up in a couple of seconds…" Estrella rolled her eyes, then closed them. Her crescent moon symbol reappeared on her forehead and Alexia gasped. "That mark…Luna and Artemis…"

"Yes, it's the mark of the advisers of Queen Serenity."

"Qu…Queen Serenity?" Alexia murmured, feeling faint. "She was in my dream the other ni…Estrella! That was your _name_ in the dream…and mine was Charon!" Estrella nodded.

"Yes, Alexia, I believe that dream was a flashback of our past," she curled up. "Would you like me to tell you the story of where you come from?" Alexia nodded, her throat suddenly feeling dry. "Very well. It all began a very long time ago on the moon. There was a huge kingdom which was ruled over by Queen Serenity. She had a daughter, who was to marry a handsome prince from Earth. However, one day a huge war began between the Moon Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom of the Negaverse. We tried so hard to fight, however the Dark Kingdom was extremely powerful and strong and so the Moon Kingdom was destroyed forever. Nonetheless, Queen Serenity managed to send the adversary back to their own dimension, and using the last of her energy, and with a little help from a tyrant named Emperor Mu she sent her court, her daughter and her daughter's fiancé to the future, erasing their memories of the Kingdom." Estrella fell silent for a moment.

"But what does this have to do with me?" Alexia demanded.

"You and the other Scouts were all princesses of your own planets, or in your case, moon; and also part of Serenity's court." Estrella continued. "You swore to protect the Kingdom when the trouble occurred. The reason you were there is a long story, which can wait for now."

"Okay, next question - why did you take so long to tell me I'm a Scout?!" the girl demanded to know.

"I knew from the moment I saw Mina that Luna and Artemis wouldn't be too far away - and that they would tell me to find and activate Sailor Charon, because that was the reason we were sent to the future - to find you Scouts if there was ever trouble." Estrella explained. "I've known you were the one for quite some time now, even before your cousin Trista brought me to you, actually when I first realised you were Sailor Charon you were still living in Kyoto. However you seemed so happy, and the others were doing so well without Charon that I thought it unnecessary. Also, they thought you and I were…" her voice faltered.

"Were?" Alexia urged her on.

"Dead." she finished and Alexia's blue eyes widened with horror. "You see back during the great war you left the others to find Queen Serenity, myself, Luna and Artemis. However we were safe, and when I discovered what you had done I chased after you. You were attacked so you had no other choice than to fight back, but it caused a massive explosion. We were both caught in it and presumed dead by the others.

"Well what really happened?!" Alexia inquired.

"We were rescued just after the explosion by the Guardian of Time, and your aunt, Pluto, and sent to the future by her."

"Princess Pluto?" Alexia murmured.

"That's correct." Estrella stood up again. "Now, Alexia, it's time to fulfil your destiny." with that the kitten leapt off the bed, performed a perfect somersault and as she landed on her feet in front of Alexia caught something in her mouth. "Here," she said the best she could with her mouth full. Alexia took the item from the kitten's mouth carefully and inspected it. It was a gold and purple pen with a star attached to the top; in the star was a symbol of a crescent moon like the one on Estrella's head except this one was silver, with a purple heart sat on the inside curve. "You need that to be able to transform, so make sure you don't lose it." Estrella exclaimed.

"Um, so what exactly do I do with it?" Alexia asked, switching her gaze between the pen and the cat.

"It's simple really - just hold it into the air and call out 'Charon Moon Power - Make Up!'. Why not give it a try now, since your parents are out." Alexia nodded, feeling extremely nervous. Her hand trembling violently, she raised the pen above her head and called:

"Charon Moon Power - Make Up!"

x x x x x

Rei's eyes shot open.

"Wh…what was that?" she murmured, getting up and walking away from the flames.

"Are you alright Rei?" Amy asked gently, looking from the book she was reading on the outside steps. Rei wiped her forehead absent-mindedly with her sleeve as she looked out of the doorway. "I just felt a huge sum of power being let out into the world. It was very strong…perhaps we should contact the others…" just as she was turning back a loud bleeping sound was heard from Amy's wrist - her communicator.

"Looks like they beat us to it." Amy smiled, closing her book and standing. "Hello Mina." she greeted as the blonde Scout's face appeared on screen.

"Amy, Rei - get to the zoo as quickly as you can. We think we've got trouble." she said breathlessly.

"Right, we're on our way now." Amy nodded and signed off.

"That must've been what I sensed." Rei decided. "Anyway, let's go." with that the Martian and Mercurian Scouts dashed off.

x x x x x

Estrella gazed up at the new-found Scout with tears in her eyes.

_Oh Charon,_ she thought joyfully, _I thought I would never see you again. You'll never realised just how much I missed you._

"Wooow, I _love_ this outfit!" she grinned, admiring herself in the mirror. Just like all the other Scouts she was in a pretty sailor outfit - white and purple being the main colours. In the middle of the top was a lilac bow held in place with a purple brooch, and a bow of the same colour was fastened to the top of the back of the skirt. Purple-trimmed, elbow-length white gloves, a purple choker, a gold tiara set with a purple jewel, purple earrings and purple high-heels which tied around her ankles like ballet slippers all helped to complete the outfit. Flipping her plait of hair off her shoulder she grinned at Estrella.

"I can't believe this is real." she murmured, then suddenly froze. "Hey, I just thought of something that you said - how come you knew that Luna and Artemis would be nearby when you saw _Mina_?"

"Well Alexia, this is the funniest thing." Estrella smiled. "Your new friends…are actually the Inner Sailor Scouts – and therefore were the other girls you saw in your dream!"

"_What_?" She gasped. "Do they know that I'm Charon then?" the kitten shook her head.

"No, they have no idea. Luna and Artemis worked it out though." suddenly her ears pricked up. "However, now's not the time for idle chit-chat - it's time to show me what you're made of, Sailor Charon."

"Sorry?" the girl looked confused.

"I can sense an enemy, in the zoo I believe." she leapt onto the window sill. "The other Scouts are on their way there right now, so let's go and meet them."

Sailor Charon nodded, feeling the nervousness rising within herself again.

_I am a Sailor Scout…me, of all people_! She couldn't help but smile to herself as she leapt out of the window with the kitten tucked under her arm.

x x x x x

"Okay, so is this some kind of joke or something?" Sailor Moon called out as she spread out her arms. "We've searched this place high and low and there's _nothing_!"

"But I can sense it! A dark force!" Luna exclaimed. "You're obviously not looking hard enough, Serena."

"No luck here either." Venus called from nearby.

"This is getting ridiculous now, can't we just go home then come back if it ever decides to show up?" Jupiter muttered.

"Wait, I'm getting a reading!" Mercury called out as she tapped away on her computer. Looking through her VR visor she scanned around them. "It's coming from over there!" she pointed to an enclosure, where several peacocks and peahens were crowded around. Suddenly a screeching laugh filled the air.

"Found me at last, Sailor Scouts?" the voice teased. "Well it's about time!" the birds scattered, revealing a blue and gold-haired girl crouching on the ground. She looked up and smiled cheekily as she raised herself to her full height. She was dressed in blue catsuit with trims of gold and green, a long feathery tail stuck out behind her like a peacock's. "The name's Paon, nice to meet you all." she batted her large golden-green eyes and took a sweeping bow, giggling with her screeching laugh again.

"I think you must be slightly confused…didn't you realise peacocks are _male_?" Jupiter said scathingly. Paon's sparkling eyes narrowed.

"Grrr…of _course_ I knew that! They're prettier than the females though." she sauntered towards them, the tail swaying from side to side. "Hey, you're trying to distract me, aren't you? It's not going to work!" she took a deep breath, then screamed. The sound cut through the Scouts' brains like blunt razors and they all fell to the ground holding their ears.

"She really needs to take singing lessons!" Venus yelled over it. "Venus Love Chain Encircle!" the golden hearts wrapped around Paon's neck, whilst the Venusian held the other end. "Nice leash!" she cried triumphantly.

"Grrr, you'll pay for that one Venus!" Paon yelled angrily, then let out a couple of squawks in the direction of the peacocks and peahens around. Their eyes turned as gold as the girl's and they charged towards the Scouts and started to peck and flap their wings violently.

"Get off me!" Sailor Moon yelled as one of the peacocks grabbed her skirt in its beak. "Oooh you nasty creatures you!" the peacock suddenly let go as a red rose hit its beak.

"How dare you get innocent creatures to do your dirty work!" Tuxedo Mask announced as he sauntered over, his cape fluttering behind him as it was caught by the gentle summer night's breeze.

"Ohhh…cutie!" Paon's eyes turned into hearts as she gazed at the gallant youth, but as suddenly as it had happened she shook her head. "Nuh uh, not another distraction!" she told herself, her eyes glowing brightly. As she spoke she unfurled her long tail like a fan.

Everything froze.

The Scouts and Tuxedo Mask found themselves transfixed on her tail feathers, which looked like a thousand green-gold eyes staring back at them. She shook them slightly, and they fell to their knees at her feet.

"Can't…control…my body!" Mars said rather distantly, her eyes glazed over.

"Same here…" Jupiter murmured, as she rolled onto her back. Paon giggled again, her shining eyes filled with pure delight at the spectacle.

"This is fun!" she exclaimed, causing her tail feathers to quiver again. As she did this Mercury grabbed Sailor Moon by the neck and started to shake her.

"Heeey, let go of me…" the blonde leader said with no feeling in her voice whatsoever.

"This isn't good." Luna said anxiously to Artemis.

"That's it, I'm going to stop her!" the white cat was about to gallop off when another voice piped up.

"Don't go rushing in there without a game plan, Artemis," they turned to look at Estrella, who had a rather smug smile on her face. "Help's here already."

"You mean…?" the older cats exclaimed.

"You just watch." she smiled, nodding towards the fight.

The Scouts were all mindlessly attacking each other whilst Paon held her sides and squealed joyfully.

"This is so great, I get to hurt the Sailor Scouts with damaging a single tail feather!" she declared.

Unluckily for her, this little announcement wasn't going to be true.

All of a sudden, without a single word of warning, Paon's tail burst into flames.

"Eeeek!" she squealed, running round like a madwoman, her eyes wide with sheer terror at the surprise attack. "My feathers, my beautiful feathers! Water, water!"

"My pleasure," Sailor Mercury regained her senses in a heartbeat and let go of Sailor Moon's neck. "Shine Aqua Illusion!" Her attack hit the burning tail of Paon and turning it to ice.

"Phew, thanks. You're too good to me." Paon sighed gratefully, a hand to her heart as she slumped to the ground.

"So how did that happen anyway?" Sailor Venus exclaimed, a hand on the back on her head as she pondered. The other Scouts looked at her - that moment had made them all remember the day the fifth Scout had rescued them from Malachite's cruel trap back during their first battle against the Negaverse.

"Right here." A voice hailed them from above. They all gazed up at the figure stood on top of a cage silhouetted against the full moon, her long plait of hair being blown by the wind.

"Who the-" the Scouts all exclaimed, and as they stared at this newcomer the same nervous thought shot through their minds.

_Another Scout, with a long braid of hair?_ Mercury wondered to herself in disbelief. _It couldn't be, it just couldn't_!

_What's __she__ doing here?_ Jupiter thought furiously. _Wait 'til I get my hands on her_!

_Sailor Universe?_ Sailor Mars shook her head. _No, the voice was wrong - and I would've sensed her, surely_!

"I am Sailor Charon, seventh Champion of Justice, and defender of hope and peace!" the strange Scout declared. "I'm here to help you out of this trouble!" she leapt down from her stand and landed with the agility of a cat. The Scouts continued to gaze at the new arrival in amazement as she smiled brightly. "I will aid you on behalf of Charon, Moon of Pluto."

"Wow…" all the girls exclaimed.

"Sailor Charon, but we thought you were dead!" Mercury exclaimed, feeling slightly disappointed although she had no idea why.

"Heeeeey! Stop ignoring me!" Paon suddenly stood up again and placed her hands on her hips indignantly. "How _dare_ you steal my show!" she yelled at Sailor Charon.

"Guess there's no time for explanations now!" Mars yelled as Paon charged towards her screaming. "Mars Celestial Fire - Surround!" this time the feathers on the bird-girl's head erupted into bright red flames.

"Not again!" she moaned loudly, running round once more, patting her head wildly as she tried to put them out. Finally she slumped to the ground in defeat and exhaustion. "You know I was _really_ starting to think you girls were alright, I thought we might be able to become good friends!" she suddenly burst into tears. "Now I can see - you're all just a load of…_meanies_!" her wails would've put a banshee to shame.

"Sorry, just doing our job!" Sailor Moon apologised, as she started to swing the sceptre round her head expertly. "Moon Sceptre Activation!"

"No faaair!" Paon yowled as she turned into dust.

"Good job Scouts!" Luna said approvingly as she and Artemis walked up. "And now I guess we ought to introduce you. Scouts - this is Sailor Charon."

"Nice to meet you all." Charon smiled.

"And I'm her guardian, Estrella." The orange kitten jumped into Charon's arms.

"Is it me or are these turning out to be the weirdest couple of weeks, ever?!" Sailor Venus couldn't help but exclaim, holding a hand to her forehead.

Sailor Mercury was the first to step forward. She took Charon's hands in her own and smiled into the new girl's pale blue eyes.

"I can't believe it…you're not dead after all." The Mercurian Scout murmured.

"So, who are you?" Mars asked, peering intently at the new Scout. Charon's smile broadened, and her pale eyes continued to sparkle mysteriously.

"We'll come and visit you - tomorrow." she said rather hurriedly, a total contrast to her calm face. With that she turned, and she and her guardian cat walked away quickly into the darkness of the night.

"Wow…how cool was she?" Sailor Moon sighed, her eyes shining.

"You could tell from that short time?" Jupiter remarked with doubt in her voice. The blonde leader nodded, her hands clasped below her chin.

"Yes…yes, I could." She murmured confidently.

"I wonder who she is?" Tuxedo Mask spoke up.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow." Venus said. She didn't say anything but she felt in her heart that she'd already met Sailor Charon before. _Perhaps it's just a feeling from the past haunting me_, she concluded.

"Unless _you_ know - Luna, Artemis?" Mercury looked down at them.

"No idea at all." Luna replied quickly. "Let's wait and see."

"Right." they all agreed.

x x x x x

"Why did we have to leave so quickly?" Estrella asked of Alexia as they ran along. The girl looked down at the cat, securely held in her arms, sheepishly.

"Because I suddenly remembered something - mom and dad'll be back soon, and they'll be wondering where the heck I am!" Estrella laughed.

"Oh, Alexia." she sighed. "I'm so happy that I've told you everything at last…I hope you're not mad at me for telling you who you really are…" the kitten looked nervous as Alexia stopped at the gate of her house and smiled fondly at her.

"Not at all." she said gently. "You see, Estrella, I've always felt there was something…missing in my life. When I was young I used to pretend I was a princess with lots of friends, and my parents just thought it was a game but to me it wasn't - it was real. I couldn't explain it, I still can't now, but I just _knew_ there was more to my life than just this. I knew I had some kind of purpose…" her voice trailed off, and she looked up at the moon. "And now I know what that purpose is. All I can do is thank you." she held the kitten tighter, and the nervous feeling melted away.

"It's no problem at all, Alexia. No problem at all." she sighed, and they walked through the gate together.


	5. Alexia, Outer Moon Princess Charon

5 – Alexia, Outer Moon Princess Charon.

"Good morning Rei!" Alexia grinned as she breezed into the classroom. Rei was stood at the window, looking out with a look of deep thought on her face. "Rei? Hey Rei!" she tapped her friend on the shoulder and she jumped rather violently.

"Oh, Alexia." she breathed a sigh of relief as she placed her hand to her chest. "You startled me." the green-haired giggled. "You're in a good mood today."

"I had a _great_ night last night, oh it was so much fun!" she sat on her desk, the grin so wide it looked as if her cheeks might explode at any moment.

"What did you do?" Rei asked distantly, going back to staring out of the window.

"Well I…Rei are you feeling alright? It's like you're on another planet or something!" the girl looked at her with concern.

"Oh, um, just thinking about that test we have this afternoon - I think it's really bad that you've still gotta do it even though you've only been here a day!" Rei lied. The thing really on her mind was the fact that she'd received a message from Estrella that morning…

…_"Hello Rei." _

_The psychic girl had just started to walk down the stairs when the voice had greeted her. She looked up, to notice the orange kitten perched on the hand rest of the steps, her tail twitching slightly. _

_"Estrella?" she asked, making sure she had got the right name, and the cat nodded._

_"That's right. I just wanted to let you know, myself and Charon will be arriving here at promptly 5pm. Make sure you and the others are assembled at that time please." Estrella stood up. "Now, have a nice day at school." at that, she leapt off the hand rest and stalked away…_

She was excited about the prospect of discovering who the mysterious new Scout was, and where she had been. Suddenly she noticed that Alexia was peering at her intently.

"Uh, did you say something?" she asked, Alexia rolled her eyes.

"I said, we got some good news last night - my mom's got a job!"

"Oh really? That's great." Rei smiled.

"Yeah, it's a school head librarian job, and guess which school it's at?"

"Which?"

"Crossroads Junior High!"

"Really? Wow so she might see Serena, Amy and Lita around? Okay so she'll probably see LOTS of Amy, a little of Lita and not much of Serena unless she wants a quick nap…" the black-haired girl muttered, Alexia laughed.

"You do make me laugh Rei, I've only known you since yesterday and already I know you're one of my best friends…" she paused. "That's if you want to be my best friend?" she looked hopefully at her, and Rei smiled.

"Yes, I do, Alexia." she took the girl's hand in hers. "I think that would be great." _Especially as I still feel I've known you a lifetime, not a day._

x x x x x

"I'm so excited about this afternoon!" Serena sang between mouthfuls of food at lunch time. Amy and Lita looked at one another and smiled.

"It should be interesting." the blue-haired Scout said simply.

"_Interesting?_ Amy we're getting a brand new team-mate! _And_ a new cat!" Serena cried out.

"Team-mate? What are you talking about Serena you don't even like sports!" Melvin suddenly appeared from inside a bush behind the three girls.

"Melvin, have you been _spying_ on us?" Lita growled, standing up and using her height advantage to make the geeky boy cower.

"Uhhh no, I was merely _observing_ this…um…bush! Yes this bush is covered with insects that I'm looking at for my biology project!" he exclaimed, flustered. "Anyway now I need to go check that tree…yes that's right! Bye girls!" he rushed off, and the Scouts sweatdropped.

"That boy, he's more trouble than he's worth." Lita grumbled as she picked up her lunch back up.

"Oooh Litaaa…those rice balls look super delicious today!" Serena hinted, her eyes bulging. The brunette sighed, rolled her eyes, and handed the lunchbox over.

"Here, I've lost my appetite." she muttered as Serena squealed with delight as she tucked in. "So, any ideas who our new girl could be?"

"Well, I have my theory, but I'm going to keep my mouth closed unless it's proven correct." Amy smiled. "It's just a hypothesis."

"A hypo-what?" Serena spluttered, rice flirting out of her full mouth.

"Serena, it's rude to speak with your mouth full." Amy pointed out. "I just mean that I have an supposition however it is inconclusive."

"Whaaat?" Serena looked totally bewildered.

"Never mind Serena…hey isn't that Alexia's mother there?" Amy pointed to a raven-haired woman walking towards them with a pile of books in her arms.

"Well hello there girls!" Miaka beamed as they stood to greet her. "Isn't it a lovely day?"

"Yes, it is." they agreed in unison.

"Um, what are you doing here? This isn't Alexia's school!" Serena asked.

"I know it isn't - I'm the school's new head librarian!" she announced.

"Oh, congratulations!" the girls complimented

"Thanks girls." Miaka managed successfully to look over the pile of books at a card in her hand. "Now, would I be right in assuming that you are Amy Anderson?" Amy nodded. "Great! I have some books here that you ordered?"

"Oh really? Wonderful!" she exclaimed, joyfully clapping her hands together.

"Yes, here's 'Astronomy for the Advanced' and…ummm…'Further Trigonometry part 5'. My goodness, what big books these are!"

"Thank you ever so much Miaka." Amy smiled, taking the books from her.

"No problem honey, it's my job." the woman smiled fondly at the three. She felt quite attached to them already. "You girls are wonderful, thank you so much for helping Alexia feel so welcome."

"It's no problem, she's so cool." Lita grinned.

"Anyway, I have to find homes for all of these yet! See you all soon I hope!" the woman waltzed off, books in tow.

"She's so nice!" Serena exclaimed.

"I agree." Amy smiled, and Lita nodded as well.

x x x x x

The Sailor Scouts worked their way through school with impatience that day, counting every single minute on the clock until finally the final bell rang at the 3 different schools. Alexia was just walking through her front gate when Mina called to her from up the street.

"Hi Alexia! Did you have a nice day at school?" the blonde asked gaily as she caught her up.

"Yes thanks, although Rei's seemed really reserved today." Alexia replied rather anxiously. "I'm kinda worried about her, it was like she was in some sort of daze…" she shook her head.

"I'm sure it's nothing, really." Mina smiled, placing a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "I hope you've not got too much homework?"

"Not really no, I've got to go out later so it's a good job." she smiled.

"Oh really, where are you going?" Mina asked with interest.

"Umm…I'm not sure yet, my parents won't tell me - it's a secret apparently." the green-haired Scout turned to face the house. "I'll see you around Mina."

"Yup, you too." the girls walked down their paths and inside. As soon as Mina got in Artemis pounced on her.

"I've got news - Estrella's been in touch. We have to be at the temple for 5 o'clock sharp."

"Right, do the others know?" she asked.

"Well Estrella said that she'd get in touch with Luna and she'd already seen Rei."

Meanwhile next door Estrella had been waiting for Alexia.

"Five o'clock on the nose at Rei's temple." she informed the Charonian.

"Okay." she picked up the kitten. "I'm really, really excited!"

"So am I, so am I." Estrella agreed, purring.

x x x x x

Rei gazed deeply into the orange and red flames and sighed. She looked up at the clock -

4.55pm.

Looking around to check she was alone she slipped her hand into her sleeve and pulled out something.

A long strand of green hair.

She wrapped the silken strand around her fingers and looked at it for a moment. She'd somehow managed to retrieve the hair from Sailor Charon the night before and now the curiosity was getting the better of her.

Looking back at the flames, then closing her eyes she murmured. "Holy fire - show me, show me the true identity of Sailor Charon…" after counting down from five in her head she opened her eyes. Dancing in the flames was a graceful female figure in a long lilac dress with a high neck and a slit up to her knee on one side of the skirt. Wrapped around her waist was a pink sash and her waist-length green hair flowed freely around her. She stopped - and stared back at Rei with pale blue eyes. Her features were delicate and beautiful and on her forehead shone a symbol consisting of a silver crescent moon and purple heart. Her lips slowly curled into a radiant smile and she whispered quietly.

"But you _know_ who I am, Mars. You'll never forget me…" the figure faded, yet Rei continued to stare.

"But that made no sense to me…I _have_ forgotten you, haven't I?" she said sadly.

"Rei, are you alright?" Serena said softly from the doorway. Rei turned to look at her and Darien.

"Of _course_ I am, why shouldn't I be?" she said sharply, getting to her feet. The other girls were sat around outside.

"Only two minutes to go…" Amy breathed, looking at her watch.

"I can't bear the suspense!" Mina exclaimed loudly.

"Me neither!!" Serena groaned. "I wanna go for ice cream too!"

"One minute." Amy murmured.

"Agh sixty seconds of pure agony!" Lita slammed her fist against a post.

"Thirty…"

"Hey guys, what's up?"

The Scouts' heads turned all at once to stare at Alexia.

"Alexia? What are you doing here?" Rei asked her in amazement.

"Well I just thought I'd drop by and say hello, oh and introduce you to my kitten!" Alexia grinned.

_Twenty…_ Amy thought.

"Although there's been a slight problem with the name thing…"

"Oh yeah?" Mina tilted her head.

_Ten…_

"Yeah, we decided the name Marmalade just wasn't right, so we changed it,"

_Five…_

"Isn't that right…Estrella?"

"That's right, Alexia." the kitten walked out from behind the girl.

_One_! Amy couldn't help but smile as she realised the obvious.

"And as it's now 5 on the dot - let me introduce you girls to the one and only Sailor Charon!" Estrella smiled proudly up at Alexia, who blushed.

"Alexia?!" Mina remarked in disbelief.

"Alexia!" Serena squealed, and leapt up to hug the girl. "I can't believe it's you!"

"I couldn't believe it either, but it's true!" Alexia laughed.

"I knew it was you." Amy got to her feet.

"You did, how?" Lita inquired.

"It was simple - the dream, the way Luna and Artemis reacted to her, all of her interests match those of Princess Charon's…" she took Alexia's hands in her own. "Welcome to the group." she said sweetly.

"Thank you. It's nice to be here." Alexia replied.


	6. Cousin, Aunt, Plutonian Sister

6 – Cousin, Aunt, Plutonian Sister…

The next few days passed by without any problems, Alexia had started to feel that although she'd only been in her new home for a week or so it felt like she'd been there forever. She was sat in her mother's car, a large shoulder bag on her knees as they drove along.

"You nervous honey?" Miaka asked her daughter, not taking her eyes off the road.

"A little, excited as well." the green-haired girl smiled. They pulled up outside a large building and she took a deep breath. The building was the dance school, which Alexia was about to commence evening lessons at.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Miaka inquired as she put on the hand brake and looked over at Alexia.

"No, I'll be okay mom." she said confidently. "Anyway, here goes nothing." she opened the door, then leant over to kiss her mother on the cheek. "Thanks for the lift."

"No problem sweetie - see you later." the black-haired woman smiled and waved as her daughter closed the door and walked up to the door of the school.

"Everything will be fine…" she murmured as she pushed it and walked in with her head up. A girl, who was stood just a little way from the door, immediately looked up from her bag. She was a little shorter than Alexia, with hazel-green eyes and black hair cut into a sleek raven bob. She looked curiously at Alexia as she said:

"Hi, I haven't seen you here before. Are you new?"

"Yes, I am." Alexia replied. "My name's Alexia, Alexia Risolto."

"Shishu Kurahashi." the other girl smiled. "So I guess you'll be in my class, you poor thing!" she giggled.

"Excuse me?" the green-haired girl asked in confusion.

"Oh, sorry! It's just our teacher, Ms. Yakamori…she's a bit of a slave-driver - hates a lack of concentration, loves hard work." Shishu sighed. "I've thought about quitting more than once."

"Really? Why haven't you?"

"Number one my parents, and number two I actually quite like ballet." she smiled. "Anyway, come with me and we'll find Ms. Yakamori, she'll want to meet you." Alexia nodded.

"She's met my parents, but not actually me."

"Really? Didn't you audition to get in here? Everyone else has to…" Shishu asked suspiciously.

"Oh yes I did, but instead of coming _here_ to do it someone came to my old school to watch me." the Charonian explained.

"Ahhh I see." Shishu nodded, and the pair fell silent. Along the walls of the corridor they were walking down were pictures of dancers with their names on gold plaques underneath. Alexia followed them with her eyes until they reached a small room, which reminded the girl of some kind of waiting room. One wall was made of windows with an opening and a half door in it. Shishu opened this and led Alexia through it.

"Shishu, you're early _again_?" a remarkably tall and slim woman with short lilac hair floated over - well, that was how Alexia saw it anyway; the woman was so graceful that it hardly seemed her feet were touching the shiny wooden floor.

"Yes, Ms. Yakamori." Shishu bowed politely. "I'm afraid my parents had to drop me off early because they've both got meetings."

"You do not need to sound so apologetic." the woman, obviously Ms. Yakamori, said in her steady tone; her blue eyes then flitted to look at Alexia. "Hello there, who's this Shishu?"

"Oh! This is Alexia, miss! She's new here!" the raven-haired girl grinned.

"Ahhh, Miss Risolto, I presume?" Alexia nodded, feeling slightly nervous as the woman walked over to her.

"Y…yes, that's right." she quickly bowed gracefully and the teacher smiled approvingly.

"Madame Laverne told me you would be joining us today. She was extremely impressed with your audition."

"Madame Laverne did your audition?!" Shishu squeaked. "She's the head of this school, and I don't think anyone's _ever_ got through one of her auditions! She's sooo critical!"

"Shhhh." Ms. Yakamori hushed the girl a sharp movement of her hand. "Why don't you go and get ready? The other girls will be arriving shortly." the girl blushed and dashed off to the changing room. "Excuse her, she's a nice enough girl however she tends to speak without thinking sometimes." the teacher muttered. "Anyway I hope you will find the lessons to your advantage Miss Risolto, I am a firm believer in hard work, and I hope you will live up to my…rather high expectations." her lips curled into a very slight smile. "Just over there is the changing room, you'd better get changed."

"Yes miss, thank you very much." Alexia bowed again and walked away. As she entered the dressing room Shishu and two other girls were stood near another door talking quietly.

"There she is - she must be amazing…" Shishu murmured; Alexia chose to ignore and just start getting changed.

"If she survived one of Laverne's auditions…definitely, I can't wait to see her dance!" one of the others, a very delicate-looking girl with blonde curls breathed. "Hey Saya we have a new girl in our class; and get this - Madame Laverne auditioned her!"

"No way!" the girl who had just walked in gasped, and walked over to where Alexia was changing. "Is it true? Madame Laverne _herself_ accepted you into the school?"

"Yes, that's right." Alexia smiled rather awkwardly - she wasn't used to this amount of attention. Every girl who was filtering into the changing room was being informed of the news by the rather eager Shishu and her friends, most of them were shocked but one or two seemed sceptical.

"They're saying Laverne's losing her marbles, maybe it's true." one muttered, eyeing Alexia suspiciously.

"Yeah, she doesn't look special or anything…" another griped. Alexia just grabbed her toe shoes and left the room quickly, her face burning.

x x x x x

"What a work out! I don't think I've had such a strenuous lesson for ages!" Shishu groaned as she and Alexia left the building. The girl had chosen to attach herself to Alexia throughout the lesson, hoping that because it was Alexia's first lesson Ms. Yakamori would go easy on her - on the contrary she'd been worse, testing Alexia's skills.

"I didn't think it was too bad, I rather enjoyed it." the green-haired girl said simply. "She's a good teacher."

"Yeah, I guess." Shishu murmured.

"Alexia, over here!" Amy piped up from where she, Mina, Artemis and Estrella were sat on a wall. They'd promised to meet her after her class to walk her to the Hino Shrine for a Scout meeting.

"Oh hi guys!" Alexia called back, waving. "Hey come and say hi to my friends Shishu." she dragged the smaller girl by the arm to them. "Everyone this is Shishu, she's in my dance class." they all smiled and said hello to the black-haired dancer. "Shishu, this is Amy, Mina, Mina's cat Artemis…" Estrella leapt into her arms. "And this is my cat, Estrella."

"Awww how cute!" she exclaimed. "Hey Estrella, and hey everyone else." a car horn sounded. "That's my lift Alexia, I'll see you on Thursday, alright?"

"Sure, bye!" Alexia waved as Shishu clambered into a car and drove off.

"She seems nice." Amy commented.

"She is, although a little bit of a chatterbox…" she explained what had happened before the class. "Most of the people seemed in awe, which was embarrassing enough - but there were a couple who seemed a little…edgy?"

"Aww, they were probably jealous!" Mina smiled as they all started to walk.

"So, what happened in class?" Estrella inquired.

"Well, Ms. Yakamori - that's my teacher - introduced me firstly, then we did warm-ups. After that she asked me to dance for the class…I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life! I felt I had to live up to some kind of expectation after what Shishu had told everyone." Alexia sighed.

"And, how did it go?" the blonde Venusian asked.

"Really well actually, Ms. Yakamori looked really pleased and she actually told me at the end of the class that I'm way ahead of most people in the class…she asked if I wanted to join classes for older dancers, but I said I'd be more comfortable with people more or less my own age - I don't mind going through things I already know, practise makes perfect they say!" she giggled.

"Just like Princess Charon." the cats said in unison.

"Sorry?" the green-haired Scout inquired.

"Princess Charon was the greatest dancer in the galaxy…if not the universe!" Estrella explained. "She was very much into practising non-stop - if something wasn't quite perfect she'd have to re-do it over and over until it was."

"So much so that the other princesses used to call her Princess Perfectionist." Artemis added.

"So I haven't changed that much?" Alexia asked with interest. "Although I'm pretty sure I'm not the greatest dancer on this planet, let alone in the universe."

"Apart from that, not at all, even your relationships are the same - she was always close to the all the princesses however she had two best friends, who she spent the most time with. One of them was Princess Mars," her kitten told her, her green eyes suddenly looking downcast. "And the other was Princess Universe; she was always with one or the other…"

"Princess Universe? Who's that?" Alexia inquired, noticing how sad Estrella looked. The cats and Scouts looked at one another awkwardly.

"Ummm…Universe was a girl who joined the Moon Kingdom a couple of months after yourself, we believed she was killed in the great battle of the Moon…however not too long before you moved here we had some trouble." Luna said quietly.

"Let me tell this, it _is_ mostly to do with me." Amy volunteered. "I was abducted by a young woman called Merula, who was working for an evil man named Mu…"

"Wait - you mean Emperor Mu, who helped Serenity send us to Earth?" Alexia exclaimed.

"Yes that's correct, how did you…?" the blue-haired girl asked in confusion.

"Estrella mentioned him to me when she was telling me about my past."

"Oh right, I see. Anyhow when he helped Serenity send us to Earth he wanted something in return - my hand in marriage; Serenity refused immediately - but I accepted. He had returned to claim what was rightfully his - myself." Amy sighed. "And it turned out that Merula was none other that Sailor Universe - once obviously Princess Universe. Mu had rescued her from the Moon Kingdom and brainwashed her."

"She's evil." Mina spoke up, her voice shaking slightly. "Pure evil."

"But she wasn't, not back on the Moon - she was kind and very faithful to her friends - particularly Princesses Mercury and Charon." Estrella said quickly.

"If not rather a wild card." Artemis added.

"She was wonderful…" the orange kitten sighed, with a sadness to her tone. "I miss her greatly; and I'm rather glad I wasn't here to witness what she's like now."

"What happened to Mu and Universe then?" Alexia questioned.

"Mu was destroyed, and Universe…we don't know where she is." Amy concluded.

"Oh." Alexia murmured, and they continued to walk in silence. Estrella leapt from her arms and walked next to Artemis a little ahead of the three girls.

"Artemis, do you think we should tell Alexia about…" Estrella looked up at the sky. "You know?"

"No, definitely not." the white cat said quickly. "I've spoken to Luna about it and she agrees - there's a chance he's still out there somewhere - and we can't frighten the girl. We'll only tell her about him if needs be." the kitten nodded.

"That's what I thought, thank you."

"Anyway Alexia, are you looking forward to your first real Scout meeting?" Amy inquired.

"Oh yeah - I'm pretty excited about being involved properly at last!" the Charonian beamed.

"Don't get _too_ excited Alexia, I can more or less tell you what'll happen." Mina sighed. Alexia looked confused.

"It's true, they're _that_ predictable!" Artemis remarked.

"It'll begin with Luna asking if anyone's got any news, the result being a resounding no, then Lita will mention some boy that looks like one of her ex-boyfriends and throughout Rei will moan at Serena, who will end up crying." Amy said, ticking off the various points on her fingers as she spoke.

"I'm sure this meeting will be slightly different though, what with it being mine and Alexia's first one." Estrella pointed out. Artemis nodded his head in agreement.

"That's a good point Estrella, but I bet one thing will stay the same…"

"Rei and Serena will _still_ fall out!" Mina and Alexia giggled as they spoke simultaneously. Estrella and Artemis couldn't help but smile at the girls.

x x x x x

The meeting was pretty uneventful, there was no news (just as Amy had said) and the conversation had gone to the new race car game in Crown Arcades. Mina, Lita and Serena had all decided to go there to try it out (Mina loved racing games, Lita saw it as an opportunity to see Andrew, the cute guy that worked there; and Serena had promised to meet Darien there). Alexia had decided to walk home by herself, because Estrella and the cats were going to have a meeting. Her bag was starting to feel quite heavy on her weary shoulders as she walked along the streets, which seemed unusually empty. Actually they were totally devoid of life and vehicles except for one other person. This person was walking very slowly a couple of metres in front Alexia, shrouded in a long black cloak which dragged on the ground and covered his or her head. Alexia felt extremely wary of this person in front of her – who would be wearing such a heavy cloak on a hot day like this? Suddenly the person stopped and turned slowly, causing Alexia to freeze to the spot she was on, her eyes wide. The stranger pulled its hood down, and the green-haired girl screamed shrilly. The thing under the cloak was certainly _not_ human. Its eyes were nothing but bright green slits and its red mouth smiled cruelly, showing a set of glinting, sharp white teeth. It threw off the cloak to show a twisted, extremely thin body with sharp claws on its unnaturally large hands and feet. It hissed, a forked tongue flicking in and out of its mouth and suddenly its body seemed to melt and change into that of a large serpent's. It laughed a hissing laugh as Alexia watched on, feeling _very_ nervous.

"Helloooo, little giiiiiirl." the serpent spoke, sniggering. "Are you enjoying my tricksssss?"

"Umm, not really?" Alexia replied, reaching into her pocket for her transformation pen. The serpent laughed yet again and using its tongue (which suddenly became extremely long) grabbed the cloak and threw it over itself. Seeing it was off guard the girl pulled out her pen and held it high above her.

"Charon Moon Power - Make Up!" And in a flash of lilac light she transformed into Sailor Charon. As she stood, poised for action in her sailor suit the serpent was moving under the cloak. "C'moooon…I haven't got all day." the Scout muttered. Finally it started to rise from under the black shroud and threw it off quickly.

"Ta daaa!"

The serpent had vanished - and a female demon was now stood where it had been. She giggled and took a little curtsy. "I'm Illusia!" she sang with glee. She had pale lilac skin with dark blue freckles across her nose. Her red hair was short and wavy with blue streaks, and she had small blue horns just sticking out from under her hair on each side of her head. She was dressed in a blue and red tutu and knee-length red boots. Her blue eyes looked around in confusion as she scratched her head. "Heeeey, where's that girl gone, huh?"

"She had to leave…but don't despair because I'm here! I am Sailor Charon - supporter of hope, peace and determination!" the Scout declared.

"Oooh a Sailor Scout, fun!" Illusia beamed, clapping her hands together. She then lowered her head, so her hair covered her face; then when she looked back up her face was exactly like Charon's. "I am Sailor Charon! Heeheehee!"

"Don't you know it's rude to mock?" Charon scolded. "Shame on you!" She felt the jewel in her tiara start to heat up as she raised her arms above her, her index and middle fingers together and extended, then began to call "Charon…" she dropped her head and then her arms so they were out straight in front of her, pointing at Illusia, who watched on in surprise. "Psy…" she turned her hands over so the palms were facing the sky. "Wave!" she pulled her hands apart so they drew a semi-circle in front of her. As she performed the last move a single beam of energy fired out, however the demon girl nimbly hopped to the side.

"Oooh that _was_ close!" Illusia exclaimed. "My turn!" she copied the moves Charon had done. "Copycat!" she called out, and fired an attack at the Scout which was exactly like the Psy-Wave. Luckily Charon managed to roll out of the way before it struck her.

"Dammit." she cursed. "Confusion Ray - Baffle!" a blue beam of energy fired out of her tiara this time - and hit Illusia in the head.

"Ooowww!" the demon cried out, holding her head. As soon as she looked up she realised how the attack had affected her: "Heeey there's _two_ of you!" she exclaimed, pointing at Charon then next to her, where there was actually no one stood but the attack had made her see double. "I can do that as well!" Illusia blinked her big blue eyes and beamed at the Scout. Charon looked at her in confusion as nothing happened. "What?" Illusia also looked puzzled, then stamped her foot and huffed. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get a move on!" she looked down over her shoulder at her shadow.

"Sorreeee!" the shadow spoke and suddenly jumped up! Sailor Charon blinked in amazement as it removed its black shrouds and another girl was revealed. She looked a lot like Illusia, dressed in the same colour clothes (although the colours were the opposite way round) and with the same lilac skin, freckles and big eyes. However they were red, and her short wavy hair was blue with red streaks, with two small red horns sticking out.

"It's about time too!" the original Illusia exclaimed, her hands on her hips. Her twin blushed and put her hands behind her back.

"I said I was sorry sis!" she replied loudly. She then spotted Sailor Charon and squealed excitedly, jumping up and down. "Ooooh! Hi!" she curtsied. "My name's Mirage! I've never met a _real_ Sailor Scout before? Can I have you autograph?" Illusia hit her sister across her head. "Ow, what was that for?!" she complained.

"This is _not_ a Superhero convention." Illusia growled through her teeth. "We're here to _destroy_ her – _remember_?"

"Ooooh yeeeah!" Mirage smacked her forehead with her hand. "Then why are we stood around talking?! Let's get to work!" Illusia rolled her eyes, sighed, then set her sights back on the Sailor Scout. Charon had been so baffled by the sudden appearance of Mirage that she'd totally forgot about the fight. She dropped into a defensive stance as the two rather cute-looking demons transformed into two hideously ugly ones. Illusia returned to the reptilian-like creature with the bright green slit eyes that Charon had originally seen, and Mirage became what one could only describe as a withered old hag with wild grey hair and beady black eyes. They charged at the girl hissing and cackling and Mirage knocked the Scout into the arms of Illusia. Grabbing Charon's legs Mirage chuckled:

"Hey sis, I wonder how far we can _stretch_ her, before she snaps in half?"

"I don't know, we'll just have to try and see!" her twin crowed back, and they began to pull back, stretching the girl. Charon gasped and screwed her eyes shut as she felt her spine crack and start to feel like it would snap in half at any second. There was only thing she could do:

"Heeelp!" she screamed desperately, struggling as best she could. "Help me!"

Her pleas were heard and answered quickly.

A large silver staff hit Mirage around the knees, knocking her down; and then hit Illusia around the head, and so they dropped Charon onto the cold concrete below. It all happened so quickly that the Scout didn't notice the owner of the staff until she got to her feet. She stared at the tall and beautiful Scout stood in front of her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Hello Charon, I'm Sailor Pluto." the young woman smiled at her, endless wisdom glittering in her deep garnet-coloured eyes. "I'm here to help you as you requested."

"Wow, thanks." Charon smiled, and turned to face the twins, who had returned to their normal states. Illusia was nursing her head in her hands and groaning.

"D'ya know what? This isn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be." Mirage muttered. "I'm outta here." She clicked her fingers and her black cloak appeared in her hand. "It's been swell – I'll see you later, sis." As soon as she pulled on the shroud it and she disappeared, almost as if she'd gone under an invisibility cloak.

"Well thanks a _billion_ sis!" Illusia yelled angrily, stamping her foot with rage. "And now it's two against one, and that hit across my head knocked out my powers!" Pluto suddenly laughed and swung her staff around. "And what's so funny?!" the demon demanded.

"Oh really, you oughtn't have mentioned that!" Pluto chortled. "Rule number one, don't tell your opponent your weaknesses."

"Too right!" Charon agreed, the jewel in her tiara glowing with the psychic attack she'd been preparing. "Charon Psy-Wave!" the demon had no time or nowhere to hide as the attack hit her square in the stomach; she fell onto her back with a squeal.

"Looks like we arrived just in time!" Sailor Moon exclaimed as she, Venus, Jupiter and Tuxedo Mask dashed up.

"Hey Sailor Pluto!" Sailor Venus cried out.

"Hello, Venus." the Plutonian smiled.

"Come on Sailor Moon, before she gets up again!" Jupiter yelled.

"Okay!" the Scout leader pulled out the sceptre. "Moon Sceptre Activation!"

"This is all your fault Mirage!" Illusia squealed as the beam of radiant light struck her, and thus destroyed her.

"You guys took your time." Charon teased. "I _really_ need a communicator!

"I'll get Artemis to rustle one up for ya." Venus smiled.

"You did a good job though." Jupiter complimented, her arms folded across her chest.

"I'd've been mincemeat if Pluto hadn't turned up." Charon confessed, smiling up at the Guardian of Time. Pluto smiled back at her fondly.

"So, do you want to come back to the arcade with us?" Sailor Moon asked eagerly, clutching onto Tuxedo Mask's arm.

"Nah, I'd better get home really - mom and dad'll want to know how my first ballet class went. Thanks for asking though." Charon smiled, and turning back into Alexia picked up her bag and started to walk away.

"Wait, Alexia." Pluto caught her by the shoulder as she walked past her. "We need to talk, so I will accompany you home."

"Oh, okay - so do you have another name other than Pluto? You know, like us?" the Plutonian smiled.

"Of course I do." She closed her eyes and transformed. "Just call me cousin Trista." Alexia gasped.

"Trista? All this time you've been a…?"

"Yes, Alexia; anyway we will discuss this when we get you home. Your mother and father asked me to come and meet you."

"Oh, alright then." Alexia said, feeling overwhelmed. "See you guys later."

"Sure thing, Alexia." Mina, Lita, Serena and Darien called back as the groups went their separate ways.

x x x x x

"Aunt Miaka? Uncle Alfredo?"

"In the lounge, Trista!" Miaka called through the door as Trista and Alexia entered the house. They went straight into the front room, where Alexia's mother was making tea whilst Alfredo read a paper. "Ahhh here you are, Alexia! Sit down and drink this." she handed her a steaming cup of tea, which Alexia took a sip of as she sat down. Her father put the paper down - Estrella was curled up in his lap.

"So how was your first lesson?" he inquired.

"It was great, thanks. Ms Yakamori's an excellent teacher." she replied as Trista took a seat next to her.

"Did she ask you to do a solo performance, like you thought?" Miaka asked as she passed her husband a cup.

"Yes, she did. So I was prepared and it went very well, she seemed impressed with the progress I'm making. She even asked if I would like to skip up a class and join the older dancers!"

"That's wonderful darling! Did you accept?" Alfredo asked expectantly.

"Umm…no. I don't think I'd be very confident around the more experienced dancers yet, perhaps when I've been here a little longer I might see if it's still possible." the girl replied. Trista cleared her throat. "Oh, if you don't mind I think I'll go to my room - Trista and I have a lot of catching up to do!" she smiled.

"Very well, we'll talk more about your class later." Miaka got up and gave her daughter a kiss on the top of her head. "We're very proud of you, you know?"

"Thank you mother, father." she got to her feet and gave her parents both a kiss on the cheek. "And I love you both very much." she looked at Trista, who also got to her feet and Estrella leapt from Alfredo's lap and ran up the stairs.

"We'll speak later." Trista said to her aunt and uncle.

"Of course dear." Miaka smiled. "Have fun chatting you two!" the two Scouts went up the stairs quickly and into Alexia's room. Estrella was sat on the bed looking impatient.

"Where have you two been? I've missed you!" she rubbed around Alexia's ankles.

"I'm sorry 'Strella, we had a problem of the evil-demon type." the Charonian apologised, tickling the kitten's stomach and making her giggle. "You worry too much for a baby!"

"I'm not a baby!" the orange kitten exclaimed. "I haven't been for a long time!"

"Then why are you sulking?" Alexia teased, tickling the kitten some more. Trista couldn't help but smile at the laughing twosome.

"Alexia?" she interrupted.

"Oh, sorry Trista." the girl apologised.

"It's quite alright, but we do need to talk before I have to go back to the Gates of Time." she said seriously. "First I'd better explain who I am - as you know I am Sailor Pluto - Guardian of the Gates of Time, fellow Outer Scout and your aunt."

"Yeah, Estrella told me all that. But one thing that confuses me - how can you be my cousin _and_ my aunt?" Alexia asked in confusion; Trista shook her head.

"Being your cousin is merely my guise on Earth and in this life; and I'm sure you can understand why I've always been close to you and your family?" she asked.

"To…keep an eye on me! You've known all along that I'm Sailor Charon? But why didn't you tell me?!" the green-haired girl exclaimed.

"Because it wasn't for me to do. When you first came to the Moon Kingdom Estrella was but a month old. You two became so close that Serenity appointed you to look after the kitten until she was old enough to become _your_ guardian and advisor. She granted only Estrella the powers needed to look after you and reveal your true identity - she was the only one who could re-awaken your hidden powers." she smiled at the kitten. "Anyway, even if I could've revived Charon, I wouldn't have - it was Estrella's mission, not mine." she sat down next to her niece. "Back to what I was saying before - there is one more thing you should know about me - I am also what is called your Plutonian Sister. Back on Pluto and Charon it is a tradition for new-born children to have two guardians appointed to them, just in case anything should happen to the parents - these are known as Plutonian Siblings. Your mother and father chose myself as your Sister and a boy called Wendel for your Brother…although I do not know what happened to him, as he left shortly after the ceremony." the Plutonian chuckled slightly. "Chara had only known him a few days beforehand, I'm still unsure as to why she picked him in the first place, he didn't seem very…suitable for such a responsibility."

"I wish I could see my real mother and father…" Alexia murmured out of nowhere. Trista smiled and stood up, as she did so she transformed back into Sailor Pluto.

"Actually, there is a way you can see your mother." she lifted her staff high above her head, and Estrella sat up in interest. "Transform and stand with me."

"Oh, okay…" Alexia stood up and pulled out her transformation pen. "Charon Moon Power - Make Up!" and as soon as she uttered the phrase she became her Sailor Scout alter-ego.

"Place your hands on the staff, over my own, and repeat after me." Pluto ordered. Charon carefully placed her hands over her aunt's and listened carefully to what she said: "Powers of Pluto and the Outer Moon - grant the plea of the Royal Plutonian Sisters, in the name of our Sovereign mothers!" Charon repeated the words perfectly and a ball of pure white energy suddenly appeared at the top of the staff. The younger Scout wanted to turn away from the blinding radiance - however she felt drawn to it.

"Catch." Pluto told Charon as the ball of light dropped from the end of the staff and into the Scout's waiting hands.

"Wooow…how pretty!" Charon breathed in awe as she gazed at the object in her hands. It was a light-weight, iridescent ball - rather like a large pearl.

"This is the Plutonian Sphere, it is yours to keep." Pluto informed her. "Now concentrate on it, I believe there is a message waiting for you." The girl stared long and hard at the sphere and it started to glow again and a face appeared on the surface. It was a beautiful woman with crimson eyes which sparkled with mirth and a soft smile playing on her lips. Her hair was the same shade as Pluto's and Charon's and seemed very long except for two pieces which framed her face, which fell to just below her shoulders.

"Greetings, my Charon." she said in a voice so delicate and loving that it sent shivers down Charon's spine. "It has been so long since we last saw you, my love, and we all miss you dearly every day. My time is short and so I will speak quickly and frankly - I love you with all my heart, we all do, and it is time for me to pass the Plutonian Sphere and its power to you, our beloved daughter." she smiled fondly. "I am sorry that this message has been so brief, just remember, you will always be in our hearts…" her face faded.

"Oh, please come back!" Charon pleaded. Pluto placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"That message was recorded shortly before the war on the Moon - on that night I was assigned to present you with the Plutonian Sphere on behalf of your mother and father, who could not be there." she explained.

"Oh…" the Scout murmured, holding the Sphere close to her chest.

"It's been so long since I last saw Queen Chara, I'd forgotten just how lovely she was." Estrella murmured.

"What did she mean about the Plutonian Sphere's power?" the Charonian asked.

"I'm glad you asked - the Plutonian Sphere has two main purposes. Number one you can contact me by using it - just hold it out in front of you and say 'Sailor Pluto, my Plutonian Sister, aid me now' and I will appear. Also this sphere allows us to combine our power to create a powerful attack. To do that, lift it above your head and call 'Sailor Pluto, give me your power - Plutonian Sister Planet Power!'" her aunt explained. "Now guard it well and only use it as absolutely the last resort."

"Yes, I will." Charon suddenly threw her arms around the older Plutonian. "Thank you so much for everything, Sailor Pluto - I really appreciate it."

"It was no problem, it's my duty to care for you," Pluto replied, stroking her niece's hair fondly. "But now I must leave - I hope to see you again very soon."

"You too, my Plutonian Sister." Charon smiled as Pluto turned back into Trista and left the room.


	7. The Dream Dweller

7 – The Dream Dweller.

"Hello? Hello is anyone out there?"

Alexia felt sure she was blind this time. The darkness was thicker than ever, almost suffocating her. She put her hand up to her face but it was no good – she couldn't see it. "Hello?" she called out once more, her voice shaking with anxiety. She wished it was over, she hated being here. Yet every night for the past week she had been transported here almost as soon as her head had touched the pillow.

"Charon!" the male voice that had become so familiar to her over the past week finally responded to her shouts. It seemed it waited longer and longer to reply every night. "I told you I would return!"

"But who are you?" the girl demanded. "Why do you bring me to this accursed place?" the words came out of her mouth so quickly that she didn't even have a chance for them to form in her head. She started to think that someone was borrowing her voice, for she had never in her whole lifetime used the word 'accursed'.

"You know who I am, don't be so blind!" he spat angrily at her. "Do not try and deny me Charon!" suddenly the voice felt _very_ close – right in front of her, in fact.

"Please, let me see you!" she whispered her plea, feeling afraid. Suddenly it got lighter and she could see that she was dressed in a beautiful lilac dress with a long slit up to her knee on one side and a pink sash tied tightly around her waist. _It's going to happen soon._ she told herself. _Perhaps I shan't wake up this time…_ she closed her eyes and waited for the words, and the final liberation from her dark prison.

"I can't." the voice answered at long, long last.

Then she felt it.

She gasped as she felt the searing pain of the blade against her stomach. Usually she screamed but this time her mind was calm as she looked down to see her blood-soaked hands and the long open gash across her lower body, her own blood trickling down her front like a red waterfall. She fell to the ground in shock, panting for much-needed air.

"Why?" she murmured, "Why…?"

"Why?" Alexia was talking in her sleep, and this was what had disturbed Estrella from her peaceful slumber at the foot of the Scout's bed. Pricking up her ears the kitten opened her green eyes slowly and groaned.

"What was that Alexia?" she inquired, stretching then getting to her feet. She walked up the bed until she could see the girl's troubled face. "She's having a nightmare." She told herself, then almost fell off the bed as Alexia sat up sharply and gasped. "Are you alright?" Estrella asked, holding onto the bed covers and she hung off the side of the bed. The Charonian looked down at her with wide eyes.

"Oh, Estrella." She sighed with relief and helped the kitten back onto the bed. "I'm fine, thank you." It was a blatant lie, but Estrella decided to ignore the fact. She nuzzled her face against the girl's bare arm.

"Lie down and try and get back to sleep – it was just a dream." She advised her.

"Thanks 'Strella." She rested her head back against the pillow and watched her cat return to the foot of the bed with a wondering look in her pale eyes. _I wonder if Estrella knows what the dream's about…_ she thought to herself, then closed her eyes. _I don't want to trouble her_. She concluded, feeling a wave of sleep wash over her.

x x x x x

The next morning Alexia went into the kitchen to discover her mother sat drinking coffee and looked very annoyed as she read a magazine.

"Good morning mom." The girl greeted her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh, hello sweetie." Miaka looked up and smiled. "Help yourself to coffee, it's only just been made." She then went back to frowning at the magazine article.

"What are you reading?" Alexia inquired as she poured herself a cup then added sugar. She sat opposite Miaka and took a croissant off the plate in the middle of the table.

"I'm just reading an section on that silly model girl." She muttered as she continued to glare at the pages in front of her.

"Who?" Alexia asked between mouthfuls of croissant.

"Oh you know, that Riona Hiromi." She shook her head. "I don't know, children today! I cannot believe her family allowed her to drop out of school to be a model! She's 18 now, but to leave school at 16!" she let out an exasperated sigh. "If I was her mother I'd give her a piece of my mind!" she finally closed the magazine. "Well, when all the modelling jobs dry up she'll be sorry – she'll be wishing she'd stayed at school!" Alexia had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. "And they _will_ dry up – I should know!" she muttered, mostly to herself, as she started doing the washing up. Alexia almost choked on her coffee.

"You used to be a _model_?!" the green-haired girl spluttered. Miaka turned from the sink and smiled.

"Yes…well I did a few jobs because I needed the money. Only clothing catalogues mind, none of this catwalk stupidity."

"How old were you?" Alexia inquired.

"Twenty." Miaka sighed, and looked at herself in the back of a spoon and sighed miserably. "Back when your old mom had no wrinkles, wasn't going grey and was halfway decent looking." She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and went back to the washing up. Alexia watched her and thought that Miaka's final words were the silliest thing she'd ever heard. She had always thought that her mother was one of the most attractive people she knew and looked very young for her age. She suddenly recalled a scene from when she was a lot younger and still lived in Kyoto. Her school had had a 'mother and child' day and she'd been so proud to bring her mother into school for the special occasion. At the end of the day they'd had a picnic at the park near to her school and Alexia had been stood near the buffet table they'd prepared when she'd overheard a conversation being had by a group of mothers:

"Have you seen Alexia Risolto's mother?" one of them said.

"Who's she?" one of the others inquired.

"Alexia's that lovely-looking girl with the big pale blue eyes." She replied.

"Oh, the one that danced so beautifully at the concert this morning?"

"Yes." The woman who had been first to speak looked around then continued. "You can see where she gets her looks from."

"Yeah…" one of the others sighed. "Her mother's the one who looks very stylish and youthful, isn't she?" she sounded very wistful.

"Can you believe she's 35? I swear she doesn't look a day over 25!" one of the others gasped.

"And she's so well spoken and polite, and her daughter's manners are immaculate too…I wish Maki would start playing with her…" the one who'd described Alexia murmured longingly.

"You know, she's probably had a few facial adjustments, if you get what I mean." One of the spoke up snidely.

"Hmmm…maybe." The one who'd spoken first said thoughtfully, and the group fell into silence.

"I must say though, there _is_ something slightly odd about her daughter, she seems a little _too_ perfect." One of them broke the silence, and the others nodded in agreement.

"It's not natural for a child not to get into trouble ever."

"Oh I don't know, perhaps it's just because Alexia listens to her mother." Miaka piped up casually. Her dark eyes were flashing wickedly as she saw the women visibly cringe as they realised they'd been overheard. Alexia couldn't help but smile – she knew what her mother could be like. She folded her arms neatly across her chest and stood up to her full height. Tossing her blue-black hair over her shoulder she smiled sweetly. "As for me having, ahem, 'facial adjustments' – this is all natural." She started to walk away, then froze and turned back, grinning like a wolf. "However I do happen to know an awfully good plastic surgeon if any of you'd like one." She lowered her voice. "I think some of you could do with a few adjustments yourself. Come along, Alexia." With that she'd sauntered off, Alexia by her side.

The green-haired girl grinned to herself as she thought of how terribly cool and sarcastic Miaka could be when she wanted to. She loved her mother so much, and it was hard when she thought about the fact that she wasn't actually her real mother. She shook her head – to her Miaka _was_ her real mother; since she could not remember Queen Chara.

"Al, honey? Are you okay?" Miaka asked her daughter with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just daydreaming." Alexia smiled at her.

"So what do you have planned today?" her mother inquired as she cleared away Alexia's cup and plate.

"I'm meeting the other girls at Amy's and we're going to the carnival to meet Rei – I'm taking my kimono with me, is that okay?"

"Sure sweetie. Your father and I were going when he gets back from work so we might see you there."

"Cool," Alexia got to her feet and gave her mother another kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Miaka called as her daughter left the room.

x x x x x

When the girls got there the carnival was in full swing. Children were pulling their exhausted-looking parents from stall to stall excitedly. A band was playing music nearby which added to the lively atmosphere.

"This is so cool guys!" Alexia exclaimed as they looked at the stalls.

"We should try and catch a goldfish later!" Mina grinned. "It's so much fun!"

"I looove carnivals – they always have so many good things to eat!" Serena drooled, taking in the delicious scents of food.

"Just like you, always thinking about your stomach." Lita sighed, then her eyes lit up. "There's Rei!" she pointed to a stall nearby, where Rei was stood talking to a woman.

"This charm here will protect you from evil spirits." Rei was showing the woman one of her beautiful hand-made charms. "Oh hey guys." She grinned as she noticed her friends. "Wanna buy some lucky charms?"

"Maybe later." Mina smiled back. "How's everything going?"

"Everything's good – although I've lost Grandpa…" she looked around. "Say, where's Serena as well?" the others suddenly noticed they'd lost their blonde companion.

"She's more that likely gone to find something to eat." Amy spoke up. "Actually here she is now." She indicated Serena, who was walking over stuffing her face with fried noodles.

"Mmmm…shish shtuff's good!" she exclaimed, her cheeks bulging like a hamster's. Her friends rolled their eyes, but suddenly froze as they heard a scream. Serena started to choke on her noodles and so Amy promptly gave her a sharp slap between the shoulder blades.

"Thanks." The leader of the Scouts gasped as the food was dislodged.

"What was that all about?" Alexia wondered out loud, and another squeal was heard, this time a lot closer.

"Ahhh come on, make an old man's day!" Rei's eyes flashed with rage as she recognised her grandfather's voice.

"Grandpaaaaa…" she growled, charging off in the direction of the old man's voice. The next moment she'd returned, dragging him by his ear. "You're staying here with Chad! I wanna take a look around and I think you've terrorised enough girls for one day!" she declared.

"I was only asking them if they'd like a lucky charm!" he defended himself, and the raven-haired psychic laughed scornfully.

"Sure, and I'm a Pop Idol!" she snorted, then looked over at Chad, who was showing a pair of girls some charms. "Hey, make sure Grandpa doesn't scare any more girls." she instruced him. „I'll see you both later." The girls followed Rei as she stalked off.

"Right, what shall we do first?" The raven-haired girl turned to face them.

"There's this reeeally yummy looking crepe stall just down there…" Serena announced.

"Serena!" the others all yelled in unison in an exasperated tone.

x x x x x

Later, whilst the others were distracted trying to catch goldfish Serena successfully managed to drag Alexia off in the direction of the crepe stall.

"I'm absolutely _starving_!" the blonde exclaimed, clutching her gurgling stomach. "The noodles just weren't enough!" Alexia rolled her pale eyes and smiled.

"Come on then." She'd said good-naturedly. Since she'd not known Serena as long as the others Alexia was still amazed at the lively yet also terribly lazy girl's ability to put away huge amounts of food. "How can someone as slender as you manage to eat so much without getting overweight?" she asked with awe in her voice.

"I dunno, just can." Serena shrugged, them beamed. "Hey there's your mom and dad! Hi Miaka, hi Alfredo!"

"Serena, how lovely to see you!" Miaka beamed back at the girl; she'd become quite fond of the loveable blonde, as well as Alexia's other friends. "You look so pretty in your kimono! Hello sweetie, are you having a nice time?" the woman placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "My, you haven't worn your kimono for over a year and it still fits perfectly, doesn't it?!"

"It sure does, but it _was_ a little big for me before remember?" she replied. She noticed Serena eyeing her father's crepe hungrily.

"Is it good?" she asked, her eyes wide and bright.

"One of the best I've ever tasted." He smiled. "I don't understand why the stall's so hidden away though!" Serena looked at the big crepe stall in confusion.

"Looks pretty out in the open to me." She remarked, and he laughed.

"Oh we didn't get them from there, but from the one over there!" he pointed to a small red stall, which was amongst the cherry trees.

"Strange…" Serena shrugged. "C'mon Alexia, I'm starved!"

"I'll see you at dinner." Alexia smiled at her parents.

"Hope the rest of the day's as good for you, Al." Miaka waved. "Enjoy your crepe Serena!"

"Bye Alexia, Serena." Alfredo led his wife away in the direction of Rei's grandfather's stall.

"Oooh it smells _amazing_!" Serena was visibly drooling again.

"It does, doesn't it?" Alexia agreed, suddenly feeling pretty hungry herself.

"Hello girls, how can I help you?" a pretty woman smiled at them as she cooked a crepe on the round, flat heatpad.

"I'd like a crepe covered in chocolate sauce and cream please!" Serena announced, rubbing her hands together and licking her lips.

"I'd like sugar and lemon on mine please." Alexia smiled. The woman's eyes sparkled merrily as she prepared the food then handed it to the girls. As Alexia took her hot crepe from her however she caught her hand on a ring on the woman's finger.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, examining the small cut on her hand.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the woman exclaimed. "Please have the crepe on the house – this ring is so dangerous!" she showed her the ring, which had a sharp point sticking out of it.

"You're telling me." Alexia muttered as they walked away.

"Mmmmm yummy yummy!" Serena mumbled through mouthfuls. Both of them were too distracted to notice the woman's eyes suddenly flash yellowy-green…

x x x x x

_Three days later_.

Alexia groaned as she stirred from another terrible night's sleep – or lack of. The nightmare had continued to haunt her and it seemed to be getting longer and longer every night; although nothing new ever happened – the voice just delayed from responding even longer every night. As she sat up her head felt heavy and throbbed and she felt very warm. Slowly she got out of bed and went downstairs to see her parents. Alfredo was sat at the table reading the paper as she sat down with a cup of coffee. The front of the paper read:

'Mystery Illness Baffles Scientists.'

"What's the headline about?" she inquired.

"A few people have come down with some bug and are quite sick and no one can work out what's causing it. The only thing that they've got that links them is that they were all at the carnival on Sunday and they all had crepes from that strange stall. But a lot of people who had crepes from there haven't got sick, like you or me.

"Yeah…" Alexia's voice shook and she had to rest her head in her hands.

"Al? Are you feeling alright?" Miaka exclaimed, putting her hand on her daughter's head. "You feel awfully warm!"

"My head hurts a lot…" she murmured. "I think I need to go back to bed."

"I think you'd better as well. I'll get in touch with your school and let them know you won't be in." Alfredo looked at her over his reading glasses.

"Hmmm, high temperature, headache, and you ate at that crepe stall…sounds like you have this illness as well. I'll call the doctor." He stood up and got the phone whilst Miaka helped Alexia back up the stairs.

x x x x x

As much as Miaka and Alfredo wanted to stay with their daughter they both had to work all day. Miaka had thought it best not to ask for time off just yet since she'd only been working at the school library for a short time so reluctantly went about her job worrying about Alexia's health. At the start of lunchtime she was walking through the school carrying a pile of books when she heard Miss Haruna call her.

"Hello Miaka, I was wondering if you had that book for me?" she inquired.

"Why, yes I do, Patricia. It's riiiight…here!" she found the book in her pile and the teacher hugged it to her chest.

"Thanks so much – I love romance novels." She sighed. "How about you?"

"I prefer crime stories myself." Alexia's mother smiled. "I'm really sorry but I really have to get the rest of these books back to the library."

"Okay, thanks again." Miss Haruna disappeared into her classroom and Miaka continued to walk down the hallway. Her face was full of anxiety as she thought of poor Alexia at home by herself. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Serena come sprinting in the opposite direction.

CRASH!

Books went flying as the pair crashed into one another.

"Oh I'm _soooooo_ sorry!!" Serena gushed, sincerely apologetic. "Let me help you!" she started to collect the books together and handed them to the troubled woman.

"Where were you going in such a hurry?" Miaka asked her.

"Ummm…" Serena blushed. "Hey you don't look so good, is everything alright?" she felt very proud of herself for being able to change the subject.

"No, it isn't, I'm afraid." The woman sighed. "Alexia is quite sick with that mystery bug. The doctor told us just to let her rest for now but Alfredo and I are both so busy today that we can't check on her…" suddenly an idea popped into her head. "Say, Serena, what are you doing for the rest of lunchtime?"

"Uuuh nothing?" Serena felt confused by this question.

"Excellent!" Miaka handed Serena the books and got a bunch of keys out of her pocket. "Would you be ever so kind and go and check on Alexia for me? I really trust you." Her dark eyes shone hopefully, and Serena couldn't refuse.

_Anyway, it'll get me away from Lita for a while…_she thought thankfully.

"Sure thing, Miaka!" Serena handed the books back and took the keys. "I'll report back to you a.s.a.p.!"

"Thank you so very much Serena." Miaka said gratefully. "Now I must get on…see you soon."

"Yup." The blonde grinned and turned to walk out of the school.

"SERENA!!" A very angry Lita could be heard charging up the corridor.

"Uh oh, better move it!" Serena gulped and ran as fast as her legs would take her.

"What's the matter, Lita?!" Miaka exclaimed as she met the irate brunette.

"Serena stole my entire lunch _and_ copied my homework without asking me!" she explained breathlessly. "Wait 'til I get my hands on her!!"

x x x x x

Estrella stretched out on the wall and sighed contentedly as she felt the heat of the sun on her fur. The kitten had spent the whole of the night before until the early hours of that morning on patrol with Artemis, and she was now feeling the effects of not sleeping. She had spent the whole day in the Risoltos' garden basking in the sunshine, and so was blissfully unaware of Alexia's condition. She was just drifting off to sleep again when a high-pitched squeal erupted from inside the house.

"What the…?" she exclaimed, her heart pounding. "That sounded like Serena!" she sprinted in through the cat flap and up the stairs where Serena was sobbing at the bottom of the stairs. "Serena, how did you get here? What's happened?!"

"Mi…Miaka sent me to check on Alexia!" she wept. "She's sick – _really_ sick!" she hiccupped as Estrella gasped and ran past the girl to get upstairs. "I'm scared!" The blonde Moon Princess followed her quickly. "I don't understand what's happening!"

"By the Stars!" Estrella gasped. "I don't understand this either, but I'm certainly glad her parents aren't here!"

They were stood in the doorway to Alexia's bedroom, staring in fear and confusion. Alexia looked still and pale as she lay in bed, but everything around her was a commotion. Everything in her room – furniture, ornaments, stuffed toys and books, even the bed – was floating a few inches from the ground! "The illness must be causing her psychic powers to go awry!" Estrella concluded.

"I can't take it anymore!" Serena suddenly yelled, terrified for her friend's well being. She ran into the room, darting around the floating objects, and to Alexia's side. She sniffled, grabbed her friend's hand then looked back at Estrella. "She's so hot, and hardly breathing!" she reported anxiously. "We have to do som…" her words were cut off as she felt a strange pulling feeling inside of herself. She looked down at her arm and gasped – it was disappearing before her eyes! She tried to shout to Estrella – but it seemed her voice had already vanished!

"Serena!" Estrella exclaimed as the girl totally faded out. "I've got to get in touch with the others!" she declared, still unable to take her eyes off the strange phenomena happening in her ill charge's room…

x x x x x

"Where…where am I?" Serena opened her eyes and looked around…well at least she attempted to do this. However her surroundings were so unbelievably dark that she wasn't sure if she had her eyes open or not. "Hello?" she got to her feet and tried to make out anything in the pitch-blackness. "Estrella, are you here? Alexia?" She felt tears stinging her eyes and her lower lips trembled violently. "No, I'm not gonna cry this time!" she scolded herself. "I have to help Alexia!" She grabbed her brooch and yelled out proudly.

"Moon Crystal Power – Make Up!"

Serena was surprised but also pleased to find that when she transformed into her alter ego she gave off a slight aura of light. "Hmmm, wonder if I can make it any lighter?" she thought out loud, then suddenly the jewel in her tiara lit up like a torch, illuminating the way ahead. "Cool!" she exclaimed, then started to walk around looking for any signs of her friend. "Alexia?" she called out, and then she suddenly saw someone slumped on the floor a little way ahead. It was a girl in a lilac dress with long dark green hair. "Alexia!" Sailor Moon called out joyously, and ran over to her. "Alexia wake up it's me Serena!" she pulled the girl into a sitting position, then promptly screamed in horror. The front of her beautiful silk dress was smeared in dark brown-red blood, which was trickling from a wound in her stomach. Her face was pale and she was hardly breathing. "No, Alexia, please no!" she finally let the tears she'd held back free. "You can't die – not here, not now!" she held her tightly, not caring about the blood. "You _have_ to wake up, your family, they'll be so upset! And Estrella, and the others, and me!" she sobbed. "Alexia I refuse to let one of my fellow Sailor Scouts, one of my friends, die! We've only just met – I'm not allowing you to leave us! As the Inner Moon Princess to the Outer Moon Princess – we need each other!" she hugged her and hugged her. "I swear I will seriously punish whomever or whatever's done this to you!" she promised loudly.

"Ahhhh, then that would be me, then!" a voice responded in a soft feminine tone. However there was something in it that made Sailor Moon's blood run cold.

"Who's out there? Show yourself!" she gently placed Alexia back on the ground and stood up, blood all over her gloves and front. "Only cowards hide in the shadows watching their victims suffer!"

"Very true." The woman's voice spoke up again, and suddenly the Scout realised where she'd heard it before – the woman who'd ran the crepe stall! The woman finally appeared and laughed cruelly towards Alexia's limp body.

"Who are you really?" Sailor Moon demanded. "Because I don't think a lovely looking woman would cause such terrible agony!"

"Yet again, true." The voice that came out of the woman's mouth this time was hideous – harsh and scraping – like two pieces of rusty metal rubbing against one another. "But first of all, why don't you tell me who _you_ are – and how you got into this girl's nightmare?"

"I am Sailor Moon – Champion of Justice, and I am seriously annoyed because I had the yummiest crepe the other day and now it has been spoilt by the taste of evil – shame on you!" she placed her hands on her hips.

"I she's here because I brought her into my mind to help me." Sailor Moon gasped as Alexia spoke up from behind her. She turned her head and broke into a relieved smile as she saw the girl shakily getting to her feet, the wound healed but the bloodstains still there. "Thank you, Sailor Moon – your love, concern and strength revived me." She said gratefully, then turned to look at the monster that had trapped them. "So, why don't you keep your end of the deal now and reveal yourself?"

"As you wish." The woman suddenly started to stretch upwards unnaturally, then burst open like a banana peel. Inside was something that could only be described as a huge black blob with tentacles. Yellowy-green eyes shone out of its head and a huge red mouth appeared, filled with terribly sharp bright yellow teeth. "My name is Neromostro, the DreamDweller." It hissed foully, a pink tongue flicking in and out of its mouth now and again. "And now it's time to defeat you!"

"Not so fast!" Alexia yelled, and closed her eyes. In a flash of light she became Sailor Charon, which surprised Sailor Moon.

"What about your Transformation Pen?!" she exclaimed.

"This is my imagination remember? I only have to think about something and it happens!" Charon grinned. "Let's get to work."

"Right!" Sailor Moon smiled back. Neromostro suddenly flattened itself right against the floor and so both Scouts became extremely wary as all was very, very still.

"Come oooon…" Charon growled, her eyes narrowed. She needed revenge for what this creature had put her through for the last few hours…

Without a word of warning it suddenly sprung up into the air and landed straight on top of Charon, crushing her against the floor and winding her. She gasped as she struggled desperately under the massive weight of the monster and Sailor Moon pulled off her tiara.

"Get off her – Moon Tiara Magic!" she threw the discus-like object at Neromostro, and successfully managed to slice one of its four huge tentacles off. It screamed in pain and rolled off the breathless Scout.

"Thanks for that." She said as she got back up. "You're sooo gonna pay for that cheap trick!" she yelled. "Charon Psy-Wave!" the attack was as effective as the tiara, slicing off yet another tentacles.

"You will _die_!" it howled as indigo blood poured out of the two stumps and the cut off tentacles flapped around on the ground like fish out of water. Suddenly however they flew at the two Scouts and wrapped around their waists, pinning their arms to their sides.

"Hey if this is your imagination then why can't you think about us actually getting outta here?!" Sailor Moon exclaimed and she wriggled.

"I wish I could, I'm still weak and Neromostro has some control over me." Charon admitted. "However, I _can_ do this!" A smile crossed her face as she closed her eyes.

"What, what are you doing?!" Serena exclaimed – and suddenly Neromostro howled again.

"What is this?!" it demanded, spinning itself around and around and looked in all directions. The tentacles trapping the girls suddenly became lifeless and slid off them.

"Eeeew, gross!" Sailor Moon groaned as she looked at the mess her suit was in – now not only stained with Alexia's blood but with Neromostro's. "Say what have you done?"

"Destroy him – I've gotta concentrate or it won't work!" Charon said quickly and Sailor Moon saluted.

"You got it!" the Sceptre appeared in her hands. "Moon Sceptre Activation!" Neromostro yelled out as he turned into dust and Sailor Moon cheered, then stopped as she noticed Charon had slumped down to her knees. "Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Fine, just tired." Charon suddenly hugged her tightly. "Oh Serena you don't know just how happy I was to see you!"

"I was glad to see you too, until I saw all the blood and stuff – what was it all about?"

"I will explain everything when we get outta here, come on." Alexia took her hands in hers and everything became light as Serena found herself sat on the edge of Alexia's bed, with the girl sat up next to her looking well again.

"Serena, Alexia!" the two girls discovered they weren't alone in the room. All the other Scouts were there, as well as the cats and Darien.

"What happened? We were so concerned about you!" Amy exclaimed, running forward to check Alexia's temperature. "You feel really cool, I think you're well again!" Alexia laughed.

"That's because I am! We fought the illness – literally!" she and Serena giggled.

"Will you explain please?" Luna ordered.

"Okay." Alexia took a breath. "I guess it all started at the carnival on Sunday. As you know Serena and I went for crepes and I got my hand cut on a ring that the stall worker was wearing. Little did we realise that the woman was actually a creature called Neromostro, the DreamDweller. The people who have been getting ill must've also got their hand cut, because that's how Neromostro got inside me. I know this because it told me personally. It lives in your dreams, hence the name, and poisons you from the inside. If you don't fight it then it will destroy your mind. Hopefully now we got rid of it, all the other sick people should also be well."

"Hey what I wanna know is what did you do to Neromostro to freak him out like you did?" Serena asked, and Alexia smiled.

"I thought of him being surrounded by lots of versions of us." She explained. "It was all I could do."

"Also…what was happening in your nightmare? I was _really_ frightened when I saw you covered in blood…" the blonde asked anxiously, and Alexia sighed.

"I suppose it's confession time." She announced. "I've been having a reoccurring nightmare for the last week or so. In it I'm stood in a pitch-black room dressed in a long lilac dress. I call out and after a while an unfamiliar male voice calls back…" she explained everything, never stopping for a breath until she got to the worst part. "There's this awful, sickening pain in my stomach as someone invisible stabs me, then there's blood everywhere and I have a wound to my lower abdomen. It's so frightening – I always think that I won't wake up…and when Neromostro was in my mind I was sure that this time would be the final moment. If Serena hadn't come when she had…" she smiled at the blonde. "I don't know how to thank you enough."

"Don't mention it…" she suddenly gasped. "I have to get back to school, Miaka will be so worried!"

"It's okay we vouched for you." Amy smiled. "We told her Alexia wasn't feeling good so you decided to stay with her. School finished hours ago!"

"Wow, and it went so quickly!" Serena gasped. They were all so busy laughing and chattering that they didn't notice the cats glide out of the room.

"Oh no, no!" Estrella was weeping. "I can't believe she's having nightmares about it! What are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing we _can_ do…tell her the truth." Luna sighed, and Estrella shook her head.

"I can't – I refuse to frighten her! It will destroy her life!"

"It _will_ change everything for her." Artemis pointed out. "I think we should wait and see what happens."

"I agree." Estrella spoke up.

"Very well then." Luna sighed. "We shall wait and see…"

x x x x x

_Hours later…_

The steel drums in the distance were so relaxing as the purple-haired girl sighed and stretched out on her sun lounger.

"The perfect holiday, nothing like recharging your batteries and topping up your tan." Merula sighed, lifting the strap of her skimpy navy blue bikini to check her tan lines before taking another sip of her cocktail. She was in the Caribbean, and had been for a couple of weeks. After her little reunion with Sailor Scouts she'd decided it was time for a vacation, so had spent her time since then travelling around from place to place. The sun was so good here, and so was the sea. She could stay here forever…but she knew that the pull of Japan and the Scouts would be too much in the end.

_Holidays are sweet…but revenge is sweeter._ she smiled to herself as she soaked up the intense heat. She was about to take another drink from her coconut shell cup when she dropped it on the sand next to her and gasped with horror. Sitting up sharply she removed her sunglasses and her dark brown eyes were filled with disbelief and actual fear as she scanned the beach and ocean around her.

"_No_…" she shuddered. "It couldn't be…" the icy chill that had suddenly flowed through her veins had been so very familiar, yet she hadn't felt it for so very many years. "Ahhh stop it Merula, you're just imagining it!" she laughed (albeit nervously) and shook her head. Placing her shades back on she reclined on the lounger again. _Well, I __hope__ I was imagining it_…but how could she have imagined something so dark?

x x x x x

Why was his heart pounding so hard against his ribs so suddenly, what had made all the air leave his lungs so quickly, and what had caused the warm summer air to turn as cold as ice for a split moment?

The red-haired boy shuddered as he thought about this combination of feelings again as he stood in the phone box, leaning against the door. He was turning a coin over and over in his fingers as he stared at the phone.

_Just call…the sooner you get it over with the better._ he told himself sternly. Taking a breath and picked up the handset. After pushing the coin into the money slot he swiftly dialled a number and listened to the ring tone. _All you need to do is warn her and make sure she's safe…_ he advised as he nervously awaited an answer. He counted six ring tones and sighed. _Must not be in, never mind,_ he told himself and was about to hang up when there was a click.

"Hello?" that beautiful and soft voice murmured. "Anderson residence?" his own voice suddenly ceased to function. "Hello?" It was all too much, and so he slammed the phone down and walked out of the booth. He hit his fist against his head as punishment – he was such a wimp! How could he be so selfish? He knew why he didn't want to speak to her, he was scared she'd ask questions – where he was, why he'd not been in touch before that day.

"About time too!" someone called to him. He looked up and saw a black-haired youth sat on a wall just ahead of him. He'd left his companion there so that he could make the call in peace – the dark-haired boy had a tendency of asking too many questions. "How long does it take to call the talking clock?!"

"It was busy." The red-haired youth muttered.

"Weird, I didn't know the talking clock could BE busy…" his friend murmured thoughtfully.

"It doesn't matter now, let's go." The stripling who had made the call suddenly recalled the conglomeration of feelings that he'd experienced an hour before he'd finally plucked up the courage to go to the phone booth and suddenly fell to his knees as they overcame him again – like he'd just been punched hard in the stomach after working out in the freezing cold. He screwed up his eyes – he knew the feeling well, but he'd not felt anything like this in such a long time.

"Hey what's wrong? Fargo?" his comrade exclaimed as he looked down at him.

"I'm fine, just felt a bit dizzy, that's all." Fargo replied quickly. He knew what this feeling meant - something evil was coming; and it wasn't your regular type of show-offish 'I'm better than you and I'm going to prove it' evil either.

This was blacker than black – cold, insane, hell bent on revenge and bloodshed – evil.

He just hoped that the Scouts would be strong enough to face it without him…

"Who was it?" Mina asked Amy as the girl stood looking at the phone distantly.

"Must have been a wrong number, they hung up without saying anything." She murmured.

Why had her heart leapt with hope and joy when the phone had started to ring? She wondered…

x x x x x

In the far reaches of space a streamlined silver ship was flying swiftly away from Earth. Inside the ship a woman with long wavy orange hair and pale blue skin was sat at the controls with a look of concentration on her face as she watched the stars through the window. A very important-looking man walked over her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You seem troubled…why?"

"I was just wondering if we were doing the right thing, bringing such an awful thing to such a wonderful place." The man smiled at the back of the woman's orange-haired head.

"Just like you. Earth is not wonderful, you have observed it for so long – you know what it is like. Full of war, hatred and destruction."

"But there are good things as well. We've witnessed that." He nodded.

"That's true…anyway if we want to reclaim what is rightfully ours then we have to do this. They will understand."

"Indeed, I'm sure they will." The woman smiled, feeling comforted by her companion's words; the man continued:

"Let us go and report back to His Majesty, he will be most pleased at our discoveries."

"Yes, and just think – the sooner we do, the sooner this whole problem can be resolved." The woman said in her gentle tone.

"We can only hope." The man sighed, and so they continued their voyage.

The End.


End file.
